In Woods Of God-realization Vol.3

In 'Woods -.of

i [hr K New Delhi * ^

X\?A R

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The Complete Works of Swami RAMA TIRTHA

VOLUME III

AIDS TO REALIZATION

m-54 '

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I Seventh Edition

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Appreciation

Page

.... I

1 .

. .. LECTURES

The Law of Life Eternal' ... . 1 — 36
Balanced Mind ■ - '37 — 65

Out of Misery to God Within.... 66 — J01

J V

I am All Light .... 102 — 111

Be not Centre Out .... 112 — 117

Aids to Realization or Pranayamall8— 143

The way to the Realization of Self 144 — 158

Informal Talks on Self-RealizationX59 — 186

Some of the obstacles in the way of
Realization 187 — 206

Soham .... ... 207 — 218

Questions and Answers .... 219 — 247

APPRECIATION

BY

Lala Hardayal, M. A.,

( The Modern Review, July, 1911. )

“...... .....In this part of the country,

there are many persons who lovingly cherish
the memory of Swami Rama Tirtha and tell
how he lived like a true ascetic and won the
hearts of the rude villagers in the mountain
valleys of California, how he u#ed to , throw
into the sea the laudatory comments on his
lectures that appeared in the local press, how
he insisted on charging no admission fee and
said to well-to-do friends who complained that
the expenses of holding the meetings could not
be met on that plan, “Surely you can pay the
expenses of holding the meetings.” He was the
greatest Hindu who ever came to America, a
great saint and sage, whose life mirrored the
highest principles of Hindu spirituality as his
soul reflected the love jof the “ Universal
Spirit” whom he tried to realize.”

PREFACE

The Readers of ‘In Woods of God- Realization*
are aware of the fact that the works of Swami
Rama Tirtha published originally in four volumes
were later on brought out in eight volumes
in 1930.

Lately a suggestion was placed before the
management that these volumes should Be of
uniform size as far as possible and some of the
lectures should be put under the appropriate
titles which each volume suggested. Some
matter which was not already published in
these volumes had also to be* brought out.

The Rama Tirtha Pratishthan, therefore,
evolved a scheme early in 1947 to publish the
complete works of Swami Rama Tirtha ‘In
Woods of God-Realization’, in 12 volumes as-
follows : —

(1) The Pole Star Within

(2) The Fountain of Power

(3) Aids to Realization '

11

(4) Cosmic consciousness and How to
Realize

(5) The Spirit of Realization

(6) Sight seeing from the hill of
Vedanta

' . (7) India — The motherland

(8) Forest talks

(9) Mathematics ^and^Vedanta.

(10) Snapshots

(11) Precious gems.

(12) Musings of the Poet Monk.

Now this volume is published under this new
scheme and , other 'volumes are in the course of
publication likewise. How the lectures have been
redistributed would be manifest from a perusal
of the full scheme.

I hope the blessed readers will appreciate our
efforts in this direction.

RAMESHWAR SAHAY SINHA

M. L. A.

Hony. Secretary.

Aids to Realization

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL

( The following are some of the letters originally
written to Swami Narayana and afterwards enlarged
and edited by Swami Rama himself for publication. Ed.)

1. The dear ones part,
The foes depart.
Relatives die,"

* Get snapped all ties.
Our systems gay
May have their day
And pass away.

The trees decay.

Birds merrily play
But fall a prey.

The flowers fade.

Light turns to, shade,
Our loves are changed.
Beauties deranged,
Names, fames do wane,
All glory is vain I
’ fickle, transient is all
This show, it palls.

* ( Get snapped the tics ) alternate reading.

2

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

AH objects sweet
Attract but cheat,

They treat, deceive, defeat.

II. Any thing the best,

We choose for rest ;

The last, the first.

That we choose to trust
When it feels, our toes,

Lo ! down it goes.

No sooner we love
Than things dissolve.

Of confiding we thipk
And in foam we sink.

III. Is all at last

A dream of past?

Is nothing true.

He, I or you ?

Is all a myth,

This kin and kith ?

Oh 1 where shall I turn ?

To whom return
The heart that burns.

The breast that yearns ?

Oh ! unrequited Love !

O ! innocent stricken Dove !

IV. See, in this scene of changing shows
There is a changeless One that glows.
In seeming death, decay and pain.

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL ' 3

It changes dress but comes again.

Love that, nor dress, love Him, nor things.
He changes the dress and flings;

Old garments gone,

Fresh forms puts on.

He is neat and clean
And whenever seen.

New forms He wears
Unthought of rare.

One order passed, another came,

In both is He, the same.

How sweet is loss, privation !

He bares Himself, ’tis Revelation.

How sweet His stripping grace !

Still sweeter the new face !

The sky, the breeze, the river, rose —

Such veils of gauze for self He chose.

Hide as Thou mayst, I feel Thee,

Covers don’t conceal but reveal Thee.

The forms are chased by one another
That we may see the One they cover.

V. O ! what a rosary !

This world, I see,

One bead is told,

You say it dies ;

Another passes and another and another.
Yet the thread survives.

That thread Divine

4

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Is mine, is mine I

The golden thread I cherish ;

Let pass the forms or perish.

VI. These fleeting forms —

Mere morning charms ! •
They dawn and die —
Mayavic lies I
These things that seem
Are nothing but dreams
Of that Eternal Sun,

The Changeless One-

VII. On foes and friends
I won’t depend.

I won’t recline
On shows divine.

For bodily health.

Or earthly wealth.

What care I ?

My Love and I ?

To the seeming things
I will not cling
These forms of dress —

Mere pawns of chess,

I’ll see them all.

Not moved at all.

There, that and this —

I will not miss-
My Love is found,

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL '5

It’s all around.

Oh ! Him I trust.

Love Him I must.

The One in plurality.

The only Reality I
My all in all
Oh Him I call!

My friend so true
My chela, guru, *

My father, child,

My fire-side !

My husband, wife.

My self, my life,

My only right-
The Light of lights
My storm, my calm
My balm, my Rama.

Om ! Om !!

Rama lays claim to no mission. The work
is" all God’s. What .have we to do with the
-examples and precedents of Buddha and
others? Let our minds respond to the direct
•dictates of the Law. But even Buddha and
Jesus were forsaken by all their friends and
followers. Thus out of the seven years of the
.forest life, .Buddha passed the last two years
entirely alone and then came the effulgent

6 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION .

Light, after which disciples began to flock to
him and were welcomed. Be not influenced
by the thoughts and opinions of well-meaning
respectable advisers. If their thoughts had
been at one with the Law, they might have
created shiploads of Buddhas by this time.

Slowly and resolutely as a fly cleans
its legs of the honey in which it has been
caught, so remove we must every particle of
attachment to forms and* personalities. One
after another the connections must be cut,
the ties must snap, till the final concession
in the form of death crowns all unwilling
renunciations.

Mercilessly rolls on the wheel of Law.
He who lives the Law, rides the Law. He
who sets up his will against God’s will
(*. e. the Law) must be crushed and suffer
Promethean tortures.

The Law is. ftsjsgr ( the Cross ), it pierces
the little false self. He who suffers willing
Crucifixion, to him the world' is a Garden of

t

Eden. To all else, it is a. paradise lost. The
Law is fire, it burns up all worldly attachments
(*%), ^ scorches the ignorant mind, yet it

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL. 7

purifies and destroys all kinds of spiritual
plague germs.

* Religion is , as universal and vitally
connected with our being as the act of eating.
The successful atheist knows not the process
of his own digestion, as it were. The Law
makes us religious at the bayonet’s point. The
Law flogs us up to wakefulness. There is no
escape from the Law. The Law is real and
all else is unreal. All forms and personalities
are mere bubbles in the ocean of the Law.
Reality has been defined as that which persists.
Now, nothing in the world of forms, no
relationships, no bodies, no organizations, no
societies could ever persist so tenaciously as
this Law of the f^^r, the Cross.

Why do deluded, short-sighted creatures
love appearances (personalities) more than the
Ideal Law ? Because through ignorance persons
and other appearances seem to them persistent
realities, and the Law an intangible evanescent
cloud.

Through hard knocks and painful bumps,
they may be saved if they happen to learn the
lesson which the grim Dpme Nature intends

8

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION.

to teach, viz, (the Cross), or fowl (Shiva)
is the only Reality and all personalities and
objects of affection are passing phantoms,
merest shadows, fictitious ghosts. The apparent
hitters and sweets, the seeming beauties and
monstrosities are only .masks put on by the
Bijkareeji (the Playful One) to open our eyes
to His glory at last.

When we believe in the forms of foes and ‘
friends as real, they deceive and betray us.
But we make the matters still worse when we
begin to retaliate and impute to them motives
and evil natures. The first faithlessness on
their part yras due to our assigning through
love that reality to them, which belongs to
God alone. Now, that we resent, we intensify
our previous error through hatred assigning
still greater reality to their forms, and thus
invite more pain. Beware ! This (Perfect

Renunciation, Shiva) is the ultimate purpose in
life. It is a living reality, Esome thing more
concrete than stones, and well might it be
represented by stone Lingam. It strikes harder
than stones to correct the forgetful mind'.
To remember it perpetually is of vital necessity. ■

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL

9

Mohammedans and Chiristian are not
wrong in calling this Law or God Ghayyur
•(Jealous) and Qahhar (Terrible). Indeed, it
is no respecter of persons. Let any one set
his heart on anything whatever of this world,
and unavertedly the wrath of Nature must,
must be visited upon him. If people are slow
in learning this Truth, it is because they have
little power of correct observation ; they usually,
in matters concerning their own personality,
do not like to see the cause in the phenomenon
itself and they would readily blame others for
their Own faults and know not to retrospect as
-a disinterested witness their own moods of
passion and feeling and the consequences these
•entail. Betrayed we must be, when ' we trust
the forms, or when in our heart of hearts we
give that honour to false things and personalities
which is due only to the One Reality, i. e.,
when we let idols sit on the throne of our hearts
instead of God. The method of agreement
and difference establishes the Law of the
Unsubstantiality of Not-God, knowing no
•exception. i

How often are we not the cause of perfect

10 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

gentlemen no longer remaining as good as-
their word, by setting our heart on their
promises, and believing in them more than in
God ? How often do we not bring about the
death or ruin- of our children by the Law-
forgetting love for their bodies ( forms ) ?
How often do we not make friends faithless
by depending on them and placing in their
persons that innermost faith which is due
to God alone — i. e. the Jealous Law ? How
often do we not bring living Gurus down
from their spiritual heights by making -them
trust on us and on our faith in them, whereas
the Law must make us deny them even more
than “three times before the cock crows” ?*"
How often is not our heart-dependence on
wives the cause of domestic strifes and of
far worse scenes ? Take anything more
serious than God, and Divine Love must
stab you with piercing glance.

To talk of no unworthy loves, let us take
the case of Gopikas who set their hearts on
the form fascinating of God- Incarnate, and yet
they had to shed bitter tears of blood for their

♦ See Gospel St. Luke, chap. 22.

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL

II

mistake. That embodiment of chaste affection,
Sita, believed in the reality of the form glorious
of Divine Rama, yet she, O even she ! had to
pay for the error in being driven into the
hissing forests by the Jealous spjc? (formless)
Rama or the Real Rama, her Master, the Lord,
of each and all.

sin u Em t

sra u era i

Sjmfa ?f c RT^ifs ? V^7?JT*Tt I

m sin, m %vt sfhPT, ^ fRTfh *jmm,
mb u ( >

Translation :

The Brahman must desert him who sees
the Brahman not in Self. The Kshattriya must
forsake him who feels the Kshattriya to. be
elsewhere than in Self. The people ( or’ the
worlds ) must banish him who regards the
Lokas (the people ) separate from Self, the
gods must abandon him who looks upon gods
as different from Self, the objects or things

12 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

must give him up who realises the objects
as elsewhere than in Self. Anything and
everything must reject him who does not take
anything and everything as One with Self.
'That Self is Brahman, that Self is Kshattriya,
that Self is the people, that Self is the
.gods, that Self is things, that Self is each
and all.

Shruti Veda.

The seeming objects which attract, are
apparently equivalent to the innocent form of
Krishna. The dragon of mind ( ) readily

takes them in ; but on getting inside, they stab
from within, pierce the dragons’ belly, and
people begin to complain : — “0, my heart is
broken ! I am undone ! I am undone ! ” Why
did you let yourself be deceived by names
and forms ? Love the Reality only. Cling to
God alone. Take in God, assimilate God,
walk with God,' be God, behave God. That is
life.^ Not till you have given them up, you will
see the infinite faithfulness and love which is in
the things of this world.

Dear Ones ! God alone is real and all else
unreal. La ilah il lillah.

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL 13.':

i

It is true, Mohammed has been misunder-
stood and often wrongly followed, but any one
who sees the Truth, must reverently bow before
the Idea, although only one-sided, of putting an
immediate end ( by sword ) to the lingering,,
chronic tortures of those who are dying by
inches through practical non-belief in the only
Truth — “There is no Reality but God.” Christ
teaches practically the same lesson, Buddha
the same, and, of course, every one of our own
Rishis in one form or another preaches the
same thing. But what of that, their preachings-
and teachings could never have survived if
they had not found hearty response in the'
private experiences of those who heard them,
and if they had not been borne out, verified,,
and time and again rediscovered by the
truthful, the sincere devotees of Light in all
ages.

The Law of Renunciation is a stern Reality.
No flimsy phantom this ! Nations could not.
be all deluded and carried- away by the mere
chimerical * hallucinations of prophets and
leaders. Centuries and centuries could not
be run away with by the mere fancy, of poor*

24

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

- .cranks.

People not knowing the real cause of their
•miseries, which is falling out of tune with
the Law, begin to fall foul with the outside
symptoms of their malady, i. e., the apparent
circumstances. Let the good or bad talk or
.conduct of people be washed out of conscious-
ness even as misty dreams are consigned to
.oblivion. Dreams may be nightmares or sweet
-dreams, we do not try to adjust them or
quarrel with them ; but rather our own stomach
it is that is straitened. So good or bad folks
that meet us ought to be entirely ignored, and
-our spiritual condition improved. Let not
these seeming evils or lucks stand between
•thee and God. There are no insults and faults
immense enough to satisfy me in the act of
forgiving them.

Let nothing be prized higher than God,
nothing valued equally with God. Compliments,
■criticisms and diseases are equally fatal if we
regard Self as subject to them. Feel yourself
-God and sing songs of joy in Godhead. Look
-upon compliments and criticisms even as
.Rama looks upon physical ailments merely

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL

15

■as footmen from God’s Durbar, who with all
■the authority of the supreme Government say, —
“ Get out of this house ( body-consciousness ),
at once ! ” They obey me when I occupy
the Durbar throne ; they whip me and stab
me when I enter into this hovel — the body
consciousness.

Even governments whose so-called laws do
■not conform to the divine Law of the Trishul
■ { the . Cross ), work their own destruction.
Shylock-like laying stress on personal rights,
thinking this or that mine, feeling a sense of
possession, saying “ the law grants it ” is to
contradict the real Law, according to which
the only haq ( right, prerogative ) we have, is
Hag (God), and every other right is wrong.
If nobody else recognises thy(s principle, the
Sannyasin at any rate ought to work it
into life.

■The Law is all pervasive, is the higher Self
of each and all, and is Rama in this sense. Yet
it must kick out* and kill out the personal self.
It is cruel, but its cruelty is the quintessence
of love, because in this very dedth of the
apparent self consists resurrection of the real

16

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Self and life eternal. He who keeps the
false self and claims for it the prerogatives
of the King- Self, must, as it were, be devoured
by vultures on the height of vanity. The
freedom of Vedanta is no impunity from Law
for the limited local self, i. e., personality
and body. This is turning GOD into the
very reverse. Millions of beings perish every
hour through this mistake. Thousands of
heads are sinking into pessimism, and hundreds
of thousands of hearts are breaking every
minute, by the foolish reversal of the order of
the Law. The Freedom from Law is secured
by becoming the Law, that is the realization
of Shivoham .

That dupe of the senses, who counts on
what are called facts and figures, and rests on
the foundation of forms, builds on the foame
and sinks. He builds on the rock, in whose
heart of heart,

Gad is Real, the world unreal,

and the Law a living force.

Let this body be freely called policy player,
selfish, vain, proud, or anything else, let it be
what they call insulted, kicked, "killed, what is

i

1

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL

17

that to me, the Self of all ?

I am Truth the inevitable,

I am Law the inexorable ;

To know Me is to obey Me,

To obey Me is to prosper.

Oppose Me, it will not annoy Me,

Ignore Me, I cannot be anxious.

But will calmly destroy him who slights.

This is no empty threat ( ). It is
too terrible a truth.

Let us have at least as much respect and
regard for Truth ( God, Law ), as we have
dor the feelings of persons. If the hearts of
persons break by our faithful, innocent loyalty
to the Divine Law, we cannot be held
responsible for that. To us, it should, by all
means, be of far more serious ■ concern not to
break the Law. By yielding to the whims
•of those we call our dear and near, as against
the Law, we invite calamity over their heads
as well as ours. There is none nearer than
■God, . none should be dearer than God, Truth
{ Law ).

h stared aw Jrrosqi fosra: i

Yajur Veda.

18

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION.

Translation :

For Thee, for Thee alone, O Lord ! O Law !

I was keeping the mind in my body.

In Vedic days, on certain occasions,
unmarried girls assembled round Fire with
folded hands, turned round the blazing one,
and sang this song

t

Translation :

Let us be absorbed in the worship of
the Fragrant One, the All-seeing One, the
Husband-knowing One. As a seed from the
husk, so may we be freed from bondage here
(the parents’ house), but never, never from
there ( the husband’s home ).
faffUt pi* 5RR % t itu gfk mu <5% ^ (i

fo fat * | t^JT USTT ^% | ||

That prayer of the ancient Aryan maidens
is springing deep from the very bottom of
Rama’s heart ; and tears, O ! tears are pouring
madly along with it.

O God ! 0 Law ! O Truth ! let this head
and heart be instantaneously rent asunder, if

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL

19

any other connection lodges there but Thee.
Let this blood be curdled immediately, if any
other idea flows in the arteries and veins along
with it but Thee.

Another Shruti :

5TTf?r TT&nTT c^FT STTfa
Sense in English :

As a woman of a man, so shall I learn
of Thee, I shall draw Thee closer and closer,
I will drain Thy lips and the secret juices of
Thy body, I will conceive of Thee, O Law !
O Liberty !

Is not Rama married to the married

to the Truth and Law, agjgfTfJw, that other
attachments and other connections are still
expected of him as of a harlot ?

ut mrt^ uT'rrcsr ?r j

This is no blind impulse, nor is this a
selfish policy to harm anybody. Why, what:
has innocent Rama committed that ye wouldi
drag him into narrow limitations of personal
4 relationship ? Spare him, pray spare him.
For your own safety’s sake, spare him. Leave
him alone. In this lies the good of your

20 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

country and of humanity. Do ye suppose
that he will die in loneliness without the tender
cares of his body on your part ? No, God is
real, and life in God knows no hardship and
this body cannot drop before it has done the
work of God.

It is no good to be meddling with anybody’s
sacred vows. He will let nothing stand
between him and his ideal, no, not even death.
Let no one try to shape his career according
to notions borrowed from a godless reading
of history. Away with your loves and homages
to the seeming Rama. These are an insult
to the real Rama — the Self of all. Hands
off! Wake up from the dream of forms.
Shake off the illusion of personalities and body
consciousness even as Rama has shaken off
dyspepsia by a life of Law. Burn up sense-
attachments by focussing the scorching light of
Self on them. Give no quarters to worldly
impressions in your heart, keeping it all the
time brimful of the Real Rama.

War harchih juz dilbar buwad
shahr-i-dil berun kunam.

TEE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL

21

Translation :

Any other thought besides that of the
Beloved, let me expel from the city of my
heart.

Is not God at least as sweet as any sense
object ?

People hesitate to love God, because they
think they receive no response from Him as in
the case of fictitious worldly objects of love.
It is the foolish ignorance that thus deludes
them. 0 Dear ! His .breast instantaneously,
nay, simultaneously heaves with thy breast in
responsive impulse.

Look not, in the apparent friends and
foes, the cause of their conduct. The Real
Causation rests with your real Self alone.
Look out !

As a little bird just learning to fly, leaving
one stone or twig, perches on other similiar
support, then on another, and another,' but
cannot leave entirely those ground objects and
soar into the higher air, so a novice in Brahma
Jnana while disengaging his heart from one
thing or disgusted with a particular person,
immediately rests on something else, then.

22 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

clings to another similar delusion, does not
give up dependence on frail reed or straw, and
quits not in his heart the whole earth. An
experienced jnani would turn the apparent
faithlessness of one earthly object into a
stepping stone for a leap into the Infinite. The
art of religion consists of making every little
hit of experience an occasion for a leap into
the Infinite. The seeming things being all of a
piece, while giving up one thing outwardly he
makes it a sign and a symbol for renouncing
all inwardly.

Deplorably dunce must be he who does not
recognize the piercing Truth that (fewr) Death
of the selfish personality alone is the Law
of life. The f^pT shakes' off' personalities.
The shaking off of personalities is Resurrection
of Life Eternal. Live ye for ever ! Farewell.

Death in Life.

When Rama left Lahore, he was reading
in • those days, the Persian version of Vishnu
Purana, one of the boldest treatises on Advaita
Vedanta. It is the Latin translation of the
Persian version to which Emerson and Thoreau

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL 23

and others of the same calibre and character
.refer so enthusiastically in their writings. The
Punjabi Vishnu Pur ana also is a reproduction
■of this Persian work. The Anuhhava Prakasha
of the Kali Kamli Wala Baba is an
improvement on the Punjabi Vishnu Parana.
This is the work which shows on what
heights the man used to live, and in its
pages we catch the glimpses of his inner life.
Here is the secret of the millions’ worth of
work being silently done to-day through the
name of one whose only garments as well as
the house were no more than a black blanket,
who was not much of a scholar either, and
who used to beg his meals from door to door,
lest he might not prove a burden on any
single family. Bridges are being put up on
tempestuous rivers, roads are being made,
Dharinctshalas being erected, food and
clothings distributed, education being imparted,
.and the work given to the workless hands on
the burning sands of the plains and the lofty
heights of the Himalayas in the name of the
K.al'i iP- cimfo Pi> aba.

Plans and policies can achieve nothing

24

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

more than mist and smoke. Real work is-
not done through worldly designs. Work is
done through God- life. For some the busy life
among crowds is an unconscious aid to live the-
divine mood ; for some solitude is a conscious
help ; for some calamities are. opportune
blessings to that effect ; for some, * while writing,
books, the heart is pressed by the Master’s-
pen ; some, while lecturing, lose their opacity
and the Master’s Light shines through them
some, while bearing the brunt of battles, making:
their breasts the targets for bullets, renounce
body-consciousness, and become known to the
world as heroes ; some while devoted to art,
rise to the Immortal Beauty. Even the thief
when breaking into a house, if successful, mark
ye ! that so far as his success goes, it is due
only to his falling into that trembling
indescribable, wordless, thoughtless state of
resignation, and an entire dependence and
suspense in the Unknown Infinite. As to the
wickedness of the deed, that is, taking seeming*
riches to be real enough, for such an attempt,
he, of course, invites the wrath of Law on his-
head.

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL 25

Work is done just in how far we were alive,
i- e., dead in the all . This life, that is, death*
works and not our solitude, society, means and.
measures. The ignorant biographers watch
only the outside bearings and attribute the-
achievements, now to the style of writings and
then to the number of followers etc., ignoring
the real soul of success, as if my work depended;
on what birds are perching on the tree, under
which I sit and write. Our circumstances and! •
opportunities are nothing. The ancient sage
sees aright when the warrior’s victory he
attributes solely to t-he Inner and Outer God
(Indra and Varuna).-

*rfh?sn tout II

Mandal VII , Rig Veda »
Every day, we see before our eyes, as
Bullah Shah would put it, “sparrows vanquish-
ing eagles,” i. e., our most favourable and
promising bubbles bursting, and in the words of
Christ, our rejected bricks being glorified as the
corner-stones of huge mansions. No depending
on seeming circumstances, no worldly wisdom
is the least factor in our victories. All our

.26

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

■connections, friendships, riches, expectations,
promises and other means ( i . e., to say

■our world) are the merest deception, vanity
of vanities. It requires no subtle wisdom
of Sureshwara or Shankara to show their
nothingness. To those who" have eyes, every
little bit of experience as a dread cannon,
thunders out this Vedanta.

Our Mahatmahoods, reformerships, honours,
•offices, relations are no more than
•dreams of the last night, past incarnations,
cloud-forms,' twilight-ghosts and goblins of
■diseased phantasy. When we are out of tune
with Rama, we do not see the way, miss the
■path of. Law and we must suffer. While in
God, the right methods, the right impulses,
right inclinations, spontaneously well up in the
heart and lead us to the rich landscapes,
mountain scenes, refreshing springs of peace,
prosperity and purity ; or the blissful light in
us of itself draws life and love towards us.

This, the lesson of ego-sacrifice, lay at' the
bottom of the most complicated, grand and

THE LA. W OF LIFE ETERNAL

27

imposing Yajna ceremonies of Vedic periods.
The Law of Life in Death, I find as stern and
solid a reality' as the' 1 Rudra was to the ancient
Rishis. Disregard it and bang fly the arrows
to your heart and sides.

sw l|

t w: II

Translation :

Salutations to Thy indignation, O Rudra
•{L e., the Law), Salutations to Thy unerring
arrows ; prostrations to Thy untiring arms.

In every little experience of ours is folded ■
the whole of history. We do not read it. It is
as easy to become a Buddha or Christ as to
remain a poor Paul, provided we pay the
proper prices, i. e., evacuate the t local self and
let God work through us. Two swords in one
sheath we cannot have. The Lord of lords
we can become if we develop the power to
believe not in the praise or blame which is
heaped on us, if we escape the ‘fever of doing,'
if to win, to gain the day be not our object, if
to be the Truth more than to advocate it, ■

• engage ,our energies* and if we work
-appropriating as little credit to ourselves as

28 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

the sun for shining all the time. The very
moment we begin to believe what people sajr
about us, there is a dead stop. The world is-
hot. The world is not and their talk is nothing.
God is the only reality.

Some think ‘ Pain ’ is indispensable for
development of character, as fire ' is for
purifying gold. Nature allows no progress
without struggle. Perhaps it has always been
so up to the present day. But is that a reason
why it should thus continue for ever? It is
true, no chemical can operate unless it passes
through the nascent state. The seed grows
through reduction into the substance. Metals
are welded by matriculating at the melting
point. The man of outward shows and
feelings, encouraged at. the seeming hopes and
brjght prospects, pins his faith to . individual
appearances, rushes onward, but full soon
does he receive a knock on the head or bump
on the forehead. The shock melts him, brings-
him to the nascent state, and the condition of
life being fulfilled, forthwith comes success
to greet him. Let the reports be what they
may, if Law is Law, Christ could not have-

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL

29

suffered except by somehow forsaking the
God-ideal or stumbling in the path of death-in-
Jife. Persecution, however, soon restored bim ,
to his balance and a few hours of absolute
self- crucifixion in the Timeless All before the
seeming crucifixion took place, brought him to
life for all times. But persecution and pain
as such are not necessarily succeeded by
.success and ' joy, often one trouble simply
‘heralds a whole train of others, and they say
misfortunes never come singly. If through th.e
warning of one calamity we wake up to the
blessed mood, the sunshine of life ‘and light
falls on us there and then, hut if the cold of
initial misery intensifies our lawbreaking,
worse disasters are invited by us. The Law
inexorable, perhaps mysterious also, not being
understood and kept, the struggle must continue
showering hard bumps and knocks over our
heads. Those survive that pass through the
indiscribable “nascent state,” the only
•condition for fitness. Once they had engines
without governors, and the steam- struggle was
unmangeable. But now that the governors
have been invented for engines, why should

30 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

there be any unnecessary waste of power. So,,
the Law of Life, the governor, being secured,
there is no reason why pain and struggle
should still be permitted to rule mankind like
lower animals. «.*

To work as centered in the physical
personality is no crime in the eyes of the
limited worldly governments, but that is the
only ' crime with the Universal Supreme
Government, all other faults being its different
branches. There is but one disease and one
remedy. . To break the Vedantic Law —
Brahma satyam jagat mithya — is the root of
all maladies, now assuming the shape of one
trouble and then of another. And the cure
is to wake up into our Real God- head.
Self-deception once yielded to, all other
deceptions follow naturally more and more.

Is Rama’s talk merely a recluse’s reverie
an d of no use to the men of society? The
water in the reservoir has no vegetation about
it, but could that be a reason why the fields
should refuse to be irrigated by it in order to
bear their own harvests? Rama states simply
the Law which is every one’s own life. I find

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL

31

all the laws of the world — chemical, biological,
psychological and all to be no more than,
particular expressions of the One Law — the
Law of law referred to above. The Law of
Causation, the worldly relationships, hopes,
duties, are all mere transition points, passing,
standards of judgment, wayside inns, the dolls-
of the spinster, the yatammum of the waterless.
Arab. Once the Sun shines in the horizon of
our consciousness, once we wake up to the true
nature of things, all causations' and laws begin
to revolve round as planets and satellites, nay,
they approach us even as children do their
mother at the dinner

srterar snrciT irrat u

Sama Veda-

Man has to learn to die quite as naturally
and simply as the child has to learn to walk.
This Death means the state where the servant
is no individual servant, the disciple no disciple,
the Raja no Raja, the friend no friend, and
the enemy no enemy, the people’s promises

4 1

no promises, threats no threats, provisions-
no provisions, rights no rights, all is God.
There is but One Reality. When the heart

32 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

»

‘beats . at one with it, the whole world pulsates
at one with the heart ' When the mind gets
■out of tune with it ( i. e , rests on shows),
the whole world vibrates differently from the
mind. So long as we feel an impulse to

defend the body and retaliate on behalf of

-personality, returning tit for tat, we are dead.
There is no safer test of greatness than

the faculty to let mortifying and insulting

expressions pass unheeded.

When a gentleman passes from the lawyer’s
bar to the judge's bench, the attitude of the
whole court towards him changes. So, when
we rise from the advocate’s position to that
of the disinterested Godlight, the whole world
must re-adjust her relations to us, and their
lines of business with us must point differently
as the compass needle shifts its pointing through
the motion of the ship. Do they cheat you ?
It is because you have defrauded God out of
you. ’ Truly observes Professor James : “ Life
is based on the fact that material sensations
actually Dresent may have a weaker influence
on our action than ideas ■ of remoter facts.”
Animals are led by the material sensations

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL 33

■alone. Man’s Divinity is redeemed only when
the invisible laws, nay the Law, which is
enveloped in darkness for the animal man,
becomes to him a solid, stern fact of facts, and
on the other hand, the seeming fleeting forms,
the so-called hard cash etc., which are the
guiding stars of the ignorant, disappear for him
in the daylight of the Divine Presence.

*tt fksn srsr JjjrTflri nxm swifff uVut |

*mrfa sjanrffr ui faur <re$rrfr 3^: n

Bhagavad Gita •

Sublime Courtesy — The Law

Khalil an roz ba atish hami guft
Agar muye za man baqist darsoz
Badu mi guft an atish ki ai shah !

Ba peshat man Bumiram tu dar afroz.

Sense in English :

Abraham, while about to be burnt alive,
asked Fire: “If say, even an hair of my
personal consciousness still clings to this body
pray, spare it not, burn it, burn it please.”
The fire went out as if reverently to make this
.reply : “Live ye, my lord ! let me die at
jour feet.”

34 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Such is the Law Divine. God shall not be
outdone in politeness of manners.

^ aw' ipn i

aimot fa^Ta^i^at srerc- atr u

Y ajar Veda Samhita *

sa n

Brihadaranyalca Up ;

?ias^l ^at srflwrcffNr n

Taitiriya Up.

Translation :

Gods, the progenitors, at the very-
beginning, spoke to the lovely lover of
Brahma :

O one with Brahman ! whoever may thus
know Brahman, we gods have to wait upon
him as obedient attendants. All beings bring
presents before his throne ; all laws offer
sacrifice on his altar.

A Great Objection to V edanta

Vedanta kills out feelings and bleats the
aesthetic vision ; it inculcates callousness,
pature-like rectilinear conduct, no regard for
relations.

Yes. It does so. To its true votary,.
Truth, the Reality, must gain such enormous

THE LAW OF LIFE ETERNAL

35

dimensions that things, persons, causations, and
opinions should become vanishing quantities.
But if human or rather animal feelings "are
washed out. Divine feelings begin to overflow
instead. The artificial lights are replaced
by the laughing sunlight which bathes all
surroundings in joy, although it is no respecter
of persons.

“ Never before could I have believed it,”
says an Englishman of great spiritual experience
“but I see it all now. There is nothing like
it — no happiness — when you have clean
dropped thinking about yourself.. But you
must not do it by halves, while even there is a
least grain of- self left, it will spoil all ; you
must just leave it all behind and vouchsafe
to the personality and mind just that much
sympathy as to any stranger-no more, no less.”

Leaving your year-long plans and purposes,,
leaving good name and reputation and the
sound of familiar voices, untwining loved
arms from about you” putting of the cherished
personal self, as we slip off gloves, brushing
aside the fears of disease and banishing the
hopes of appreciation, pass disembodied out.

36 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

•of yourself. Leave the husk, leave the long,
long prepared envelope. Pass through the
gate of indifference into the Palace of ' Mastery,
through the door of Jnanam (Knowledge

Divine) out into the open of deliverance.

Give away. Dispossess your mind of all you
have, become poor and without claims, and
behold you shall be Lord and Sovereign of
all things.

^rajraTftit shitot i

swgftrewpw ii

Y 8] Ut\

Meaning :

Success and prosperity are thy maidservants.
Day and night thy right and left sides. The

splendour in stars thy looks. Heaven and

Earth thy lips parted (in smiling). If ye desire
anything, desire that.

RAMA.

Om!

Om!

BALANCED MIND.

( Class Lecture, delivered on February 15, 1903 r
in San Francisco )

The question put the other day was : “ Can
a man realize Vedanta in this age ? ” And it
was suggested by some one that a man must
leave this or that in order to realize Vedanta*
and retire to the forest of the Himalayas. But
Rama says, “ No, no, you need not retire into
the forests. ”

In these days the common complaint is
lack of time. They say, “We have got no
time, we have to attend to all sorts of business,
our relatives and friends take up our time. ”
There is a prayer : “ O God ! Save me from
my enemies,” but the prayer which the modern
man should offer more properly would be, “O
God ! Save me from my friends.” Friends
rob us of all our time ; then anxieties, worries,
troubles take away our time. Then we have
to attend to our children and our helpmates ;

38 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION ’

we have to receive visits and pay visits,
we have to read things ; how can we
spare time for spiritual advancement ? Oh,
duties! they take away our time. We cannot
spare ' time even to take dinner easily. In the
name of duties all your life is being frittered
away. But let us ask wherefrom these duties
-come. Who imposes these duties upon' you?
You yourselves. In fact it is you who make
your duties. Duties should not come upon you
as a cruel master. You regard it your duty to
attend to th^ office work, but who put that
•office work on you? It is you yourself. So,
if you ultimately realize the nature of duties,
you will see that you are your own master,
and that all these duties which absolutely
enslave you, are created by yourself. If you
once feel that, there is nothing in this world
that binds you. Everything originally comes
from you. You can be very happy, and you
can adjust your position most smoothly.

Once a man came to Dr. Johnson, and
said, “ Doctor, I am undone, undone. I am
unfit for any work; I cannot do anything.
What can a man do in this world ?”

BALANCED MIND

39

Dr. Johnson inquired what the matter was with
him. He ought to lay down reasons for his
complaint, and this man began to state his
argument in this way. “Man lives in this
world for a period of a hundred ytears at the
utmost, and what are a hundred years compared
with infinity, eternity. Half of this age is
passed in sleep. You know we sleep every
day, and our period of childhood is one long
sleep, and our period of old age is also a
time of debility and helplessness, when we
can do nothing; again our period of youth
is mis-spent, ill- spent in evil thoughts, in all
sorts of temptations. Again what is left to us
is spent in sporting about. We play a great
deal, and what is left out of that is wasted away
in attending to nature’s calls, and in eating,
drinking, etc., and what is left out of that
goes in anger, envy, anxiety, troubles, and
worries. These are also natural for every man.
'What remains still, what little • is left to us, is
taken up by attending to our children, to our
friends and relatives. What can a man do
in this world? We must weep for those that
die, and we must rejoice at the birth of new

40 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

arrivals. All our time must be wasted in
this way. How can a man do anything solid,
anything real ? How can a man spare time
for realizing his, God- head? We cannot.
Away withs these churches, away with these
religious teachers and preachers. Tell them
that people in this world cannot spare time
for religion, they have no time for realizing
their, God-head. That is too much for us.”
Dr. Johnson did not smile at these words, he
did not reprimand this man nor reproached
him, but only began to weep and began to
sympathise with him. He said, “Men ought
to commit suicide, because they have no time
for godly professions. Brother ! To this
complaint of • yours, I have another complaint
to add, I have a worse complaint to add.”
This man asked Dr. Johnson to state his
complaint. Dr. Johnson began to cry a mock
cry, and said, “Look here ! there is left no
soil or earth . for me ; there is left no soil or
earth which will grow corn enough to feed
me, I am undone, undone.” “Well,” he
said, “Doctor, how could that be ? I admit
that you eat too much, you eat as much as

BALANCED MIND 41

6

ten men do, yet there is soil enough on the
earth to produce food for your stomach ; there
is earth enough to produce corn or vegetable
for your body. Why do you complain ? ”
Dr. Johnson said, “Look here, what is this
earth of yours ? This earth is nothing, this
earth is looked upon as a mathematical point
in astronomical calculations. When we are
.calculating the distances of stars and suns,
we regard this earth as nil, as a cipher, and
three-fourths of this cipher or world is occupied
by water, and what is left out of that ? Mark.
A great deal is taken up by barren , sands,
and a considerable part is taken up by barren
hills and stones, and a considerable part
is taken up by lakes and rivers ; again a
considerable part of this earth is occupied
by sites of big cities like London; again
roads, railroads, streets take up a great deal
of this earth. What is thert in this earth left
for man? We will suppose that there is
something left for man out of all that. But
how many living beings are there, who want
to take advantage of the insignificant part of
the soil that is left ? There are many birds,

42

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

so many ants, so many horses, so many
elephants, all of these want to keep themselves'
on the earth that is left and is capable of
producing anything ; very little falls to the
lot of man. How many men are there in
this world ? Look at London, full of millions
and millions of men ; look at this enormous
population. All these want to feed upon the
insignificant part of this big cipher or this
world. How can the earth produce food
enough for my satisfaction ? My logic leads
me to this desperation, to this sad conclusion
that I should die, because I can .find no earth
which can produce food to feed me. ” Now
the man said, “Doctor, your argument is not
right ; your logic seems to be all right, but still
despite this logic of yours, this earth can keep
you.” And Dr. Johnson said, “Sir, if this
■complaint of mine is groundless, your complaint
that you have got no time to supply yourself
with spirituaL food is also groundless. If the
earth is sufficient to supply me with material
food, time also is sufficient for your purpose.
It can also supply you with spiritual food.”
Thus Rama makes the same answer to this

BALANCED MIND.

43

question that the present civilization does not
allow us time to get any spiritual food. This
question Rama answers in the same way as
Dr. Johnson answered that question many years
ago. You have got time enough even under
these circumstances to advance spiritually ;
you have time enough, if you make proper
use of it.

There was a man on horse-back going to a
distant place. He happened to pass by a
Persian-wheel in India. You know that in
India water is drawn out of the well by a kind
•of arrangement which we call a Persian-wheel.
When water is pumped out of a well by a
Persian-wheel, there is a noise. Now this man
brought his mare or horse to drink the, water
that was coming out of the well by the
Persian-wheel. The horse not being accustomed
to hear that kind of noise, was startled a little
. and did not drink that water. The horseman
asked the peasants who were working that
. Persian-wheel to stop that noise. The peasants
stopped that noise by stopping the Persian-
wheel ; the noise was stopped, but with the
, stopping of the noise stopped also the coming

44 ' IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

of the water. Now the horse had no water to-
drink ; the horse advanced towards the cistern,
where the water, was to be found, but there

, ii

was no water at all. Now this horseman
turned to the farmers and complained to
them. “O' queer farmers ! I asked you
to stop the noise ; I did not ask you to stop,
the water, strange fellows you are ; you will
not show kindness to a stranger to allow his.
horse a drink of Water.” The farmers said,
“Sir, we wish from the bottom of our heart
to serve you, to treat you and to serve your
horse with water, but your request is beyond
our power to comply with. We cannot comply
with your request. If you want to have water,
if you want your horse to drink water, you
ought to coax him to drink when the noise is-
going on ; because when we stop the noise,
no water will be supplied ; water comes always -
alongside of this noise.” Similarly Rama
says, “ If you want to realize Vedanta,
realize it even in the midst of all sorts of
nois'e, even in the heart of all sorts of troubles.
In this world you can never, never get yourself
in a state where there will be no noise or no-

BALANCED MIND

45

‘botherations from without. Live on the heights
•of the Himalayas; there also you will have
troubles around. Live as savages, there also
you will have botherations around you. Go
wherever you please, botherations and troubles
will never leave you ; they are always with
you. If you want to realize Vedanta, realize
it when the noise of the Persian wheel is
going on all around you. All the great men
have been produced despite discouraging
environments and circumstances ; in fact the
harder these circumstances, and more and more
trying the environments, the stronger are the
men, who come out of those circumstances. So
welcome all these outside troubles and
anxieties. Live Vedanta even in these
surroundings, and when you live Vedanta, you
will see that the surroundings and circumstances
will succumb to you, will yield to you, they
will become subservient to you; you will
become their master. Is it society that weighs
us down ? Is it this world that keeps us down ?
You do not live in this world. Everybody
lives in a tiny little of his own creation. How
few are the men who live in this world ! In

46 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

the wide world very few live indeed ; you live
in small worlds of your own creation. You
have made your worlds around your small
selves. There are people who do not know
anything beyond the small domestic circle,
there are people who do not know anything
beyond the small world of their own caste.
There are people who do not know anything
beyond the small world formed by their wives,
husbands, or children. Live in this wide wodd
at least ; rise above the little petty worlds. It
is not the broad world that keeps you down;
it is the small world of your own creation that
keeps you down ; if you can rise above it, the
whole world will yield to you.

Now, this small world of our own creation
will be illustrated by referring to what work
really is. You say you are kept very busy,
and Rama has observed in this country people
complaining of time, though Rama is amused
to see here that -they are trying all their lives
to kill time, and yet they complain of it. They
get time enough to hang heavy on their hands
as well as heads, and yet they say they have
no time. You are driving out time by your

BALANCED MIND

47

desires, you are killing time and yet you say
you have no time. How is that ? The cause
of your complaint is a misunderstanding of the
nature of work. You call that work which is
not in reality work. Work is defined differently
by different people. Science or writers of
mechanics define work in one . way, and we *
in the other. According to them you are
doing no work if you are walking on a plane,
or if a ball is moving on a smooth plane, it is
doing no work. You work only when you are-
going uphill; you are doing no work when
you are moving horizontally ; that is a peculiar
way • of defining „ work. Psychology defines-
work in another way. According to psychology
you are working only when your mind is-
engaged in it ; if you are doing a thing and
your mind is not engaged in it, you are not
working at all. You are breathing, but this
breathing is no work according to Psychology
your blood is flowing in your veins, and this,
is also work from one standpoint, but this is no
work according to Psychologists who give a
very remarkable illustration to show what work,
really is.

48

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

There was a man, a retired and a veteran
■soldier, who had been accustomed to military
discipline and drill to such a degree that the
performance of those feast of drill was automatic
for him. This man was walking through the
street with a heavy pitcher of milk or some
other eatable in his hands. He carried a
heavy pitcher on his hands or shoulders. There
appeared a practical joker in the street; he
wanted that all this milk or other delicious
food should be. spilled into the sewer ; into
the gutter. This man stood aside and just
-ejaculated, “ Attention ! ” You know, when
we say “ attention, the hands ought to be
dropped down. As soon as this veteran soldier
beard that word “ attention, ” his hands dropped
down and all the milk or other thing that he
•had, fell into the gutter. All the by-standers
and the shop-keepers in the street had a very
pleasant time of it. You will see that when
he heard the word “ attention, ” he dropped
down his hands, but Psychology says he did no
work ; that is what is called a reflex action.
Reflex action is no work, because the mind is
not engaged.

BALANCED MIND

49

Now, Rama simply asks, “Please state
how much work you do in twenty-four hours? ”
When you are eating, is that work ? No. When
you are doing many other things, are you
working in the same sense in which Psychology
defines work ? When you Hare walking are you
working ? When you are doing many other
things, Rama need not mention all, are you
working? No, no. Your mind or attention was
not engaged. If your mind or attention is not
occupied with what you have got in your hands,
then you are not working ; there you a reidling
away your time. Could you not spare that,
could you not utilize that ? In some work our
mind is thoroughly engaged, and while doing;
some other work, our mind is half occupied. In
work where your mind is half occupied, you
are doing half work; the other half of your
attention you might utilize, and when your
attention is entirely idle, then you might utilize
your full attention. Thus by utilizing your mind’s
attention you may increase your lives. You
can do more work in one day than you could
do^ by not utilizing the Unengaged' attention.

This will- be illustrated by another story.

50 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Two boys met each other in the streets.
They were friends. One of them urged his
fellow to go with him to a church, and there
hear a sermon, or say some music or something.
The other pleaded play. Now, what was
the use of wasting time in going to church and
hearing a monotonous sermon ? They had
better play. They did not come to an
agreement, so one went to the church and the
-other went out seeking play. But when the
boy who went to church found himself face
to face with the preacher, he could not
understand or enjoy the sermon at all; he
was undone, he repented of his having gone
to the church. Then he began to think of
the playground. He began to think of the
boy who was being joined by his friends at
play. Two long hours he' spent in the church,
but all the time his mind was in the playground.
Now, the boy who went to the playground
did not find any congenial company, did
not find any ether boy who, might come and
play with him. He found himself alone, and
he felt very lonely. He thought of the church,
and then he thought wiihin himself that* it

BALANCED MIND

51

■was too late to go to the church. He remained
*on the play-ground, but his mind was all the
time in the church, he was all. the while in
the church so to say. After two hours those two
boys met each other again on the streets. One said
he was sorry for not going to the church,, and
the other said he was sorry for not going to
the play-ground. This is what is happening
everywhere with men.> Your minds are not
where your bodies are. How many are there
that heard the lecture to-day ; very few can
■manage to remain in the hall ; the mind flits
away; the mind is there \yith the child or
with some other friends ; the mind wanders
away from place to place, from topic to topic.
According to Psychology you do a thing when
the mind does a thing. ; Sometimes when your
body is doing a particular action, you have not
done that action. When your body is in the
church, when you are offering prayers, when
you are attending lectures, you are not
attending lectures ; and sometimes, when your
body is on the streets, when your body is
taking; walks, there joj are • in reality with
God. Your mind , i% wita God. Oftentimes

’ 534 ^

52 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

people who were accused of faults and crimes,,
were in reality godly and pious : their rpindsi-
Were with God. Sometimes people, who are-
looked upon as pious and holy, have filthy
minds. Sometimes we see that the absolutely
wicked prosper. Vedanta says, it is not their
wickedness that brings prosperity. They in
their hearts have been living with God ; so-
do not draw any inferences from the external
actions of people. If a man commits murder
or theft, you ought not to look down upon him.

Rama will now tell you a story, told by a>
very notorious thief in India. Rama was a
child at that time and he heard that big thief
relate this story to one of his friends. But
Rama happened to be at that time present
on the occasion. He happened to be in the
village forest. He was- then a small child..
The thief made it no - secret to tell it in the
presence of the little boy of whom he thought-
nothing, and he freely told the story. Now,,
that story will let you into the secret of
the whole aflait. This thief related the way
he once managed "to break- into the house of
a rich man, and steal away the jewellery of

BALANCED MIND

53

the house. He said that he came to know
■about the jewellery that this rich man had
;got recently into his house by some means.
He went to break into the house, but could
not devise any method or means of. doing it.
By thinking and thinking again he , made a
plan ; he saw that near the house there was a
;gigan tic tree growing, and he saw that this tree
was opposite the window of the third storey
•of the house. Then he devised the plan to
rput a swing at night, when it was dark to put
a rope at the top of the tree, and he made a
hind of a trapeze and he began to swing upon
the trapeze, went on swinging and swinging
in that hot country. It was summer, and he
•had come to know that the people of the house
slept on the fifth storey, they -were not on the
third storey. When the trapeze reached the
window, he gave it a kick and he kicked it
a second time, and at the third kick the
window-sash flew back. Now in the seventh
•or eighth attempt by making the window-sash
•or door fall down he entered the house, and
there he had some ropes with him, he let down
the ropes and drew up two or three of his

54 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

companions. Then he began to think within
himself of the place where the jewellery was.
expected to be found. He concentrated his mind;,
his mind was all merged in concentration.
There he Said that the people did not keep*
their jewellery at such places where the thieves
might expect to find it ; the people keep their
jewellery where it is least expected to be
found. Then he . began to dig at a place
where the jewellery was least expected to be
found. It was buried in the ground. That
is ' the way people did' in those days, and some
do . so to-day in India, but now they are
beginning to put their money in banks. The
people used to keep their money buried
underground. He got the money and then he
heard a sound upstairs. Rama cannot forget
the description he gave of his state of mind
then. He said that he and his companions,,
after they had got the money, heard that sound,
and that sound sent a thrill throughout their
body. Their whole being was throbbing,,
shaking, .quivering, shivering ; they were
trembling from head to foot. Then he said
that was a time of death. They found

BALANCED MIND

55

themselves dead, and there they said that even
a small rat might come and .kill them. The
sound, in fact, was the sound of rats only.
There he said that he repented, , he prayed
to God, he gave up his body and resigned
himself entirely to God. There he resigned
himself, repented and asked God to forgive
him, and there he was in a state of samadhiy
ip which the mind was no mind, all selfish-
interests were gone. Here h e was * n a very
queer, wonderful state of mind, he and all his- »
companions. There he prayed, “O God r
save me and I shall become a hermit, I shall
become a sctnnyasi, I shall become a monk, T
shall devote ' my life entirely to your service, O
Lord ! save me, save me.” Here was offered a
most fervent, heartfelt prayer, a most sincere
prayeT that came from the bottom of his heart
and soul. Here was a prayer that sounded
through the depth of his whole being ; merged
in God he was at that time. What was the
result? All sound subsided, arid he and his
companions came out of the house safe. Safe
they came out. Now mark. Judge not things
ftom the external actions; man is not what

56 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

his actions are, man is what his thoughts are.
A man who lives in a house of ill-fame may
be a saint. We know that Lord Buddha went
to the house of a courtesan, Buddha was pious.
We know that Lord Christ lived in the house
of Mary Magdalene, the woman whom people
were going to pelt, but Christ is Cod. We
know that there have been saviours even in
India like Christ. They lived in the company
•of people of ill-fame. They were really God.
Judge not a man by bis company, judge not
a man by his acts. Judge nobody. A man
is what his thoughts are. People who live in
jails often live in heaven. Bunyan wrote
his “Pilgrim's Progress.” in a jail. Milton’s
great work came out when he was in jail and
when he was also blind. Daniel De Foe wrote
Robinson Crusoe while in jail. Sir Walter
“Raleigh wrote his History of the World in a
jail * We wish that otir surroundings may
be of this kind or that ; we are living where
our thoughts are living. Now, we come to
interpret the story of that death, i. e.,

* B. — To this may, now be added that Loktnanya Tilak wtotn
^Gita-Rahasya and Pandit Jawahar Lai Nehru his Autobiography
in jail.*— Editrr.

BALANCED MIND

57

-death-in- life. Just mark. Rama says that
success comes to you as a result of your
•unison with the All. Success is always the
result of goodness in< you ; the result of your
-absorption and immersion in the Divinity.
That is always the case. Here was this thief ;
he succeeded. You all will succeed. The
; success of the thief was the consequence of that
-real, sincere, earnest, prayerful mood in which
he was. He found out where the treasure lay
by immersion and absorption in the Deity,
in the .All. He succeeded, and even the
success of a thief is the result of Vedanta put
in practice. Now, the success of each and all
: is always due to that. There we see again,
he was a thief ; he committed theft, that was
wrong. Robbing others is a sin : robbing others
will, of course, at the right time punish him,
will bring punishment upon him, and this
- money that he gets by theft, this crime that he
■ commits, this breaking of the Divine harmony
will bring desolation upon him, but we see that
the success of the theief was the consequence
-of his feeling in harmony and unison with, the
_A11, his absorption in the Divinity ; his giving

S8 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

up the body, his rising above the body for
that small moment ; his crucifying the body*,
his crushing the flesh. His overcoming all'
bodily interest is what brought to him success ;■
but the thieving or scheming tendency, which
is employed, brought upon him the fear of’
punishment, the terror and the awe. We-
make a mistake when we expect a man to
be entirely bad. Even a thief has got some
prayerful mood and divinity in him. Even-
Christs, missionaries, swamis, or teachers have •
got some bad tendencies in them. Every man
has got a queer mixture in him. We make
a mistake when we worship personalities in,,
not accepting the wrong side of a man along;
with his good side ; so try to sift out the truth
from error always.

How can a man in the present circumstances,
achieve realization of the Spirit ? The answer •
will be dependent upon the nature of the man
himself. Men in this world may be broadly
divided as possessing three kinds of tempers,,
three kinds of minds. There are some whose
minds are of the nature of unstable equilibrium ; ;
there are others whose concentration or peace-

i

BALANCED MIND

59 *

of mind may be of the nature of stable
equilibrium ; there are others who are always-
in neutral equilibrium. What is unstable-
, equilibrium? Place the pencil vertically upon>
the palm of the hand, it never stays (here the-
Swami put the pencil on his palm in a vertical,
position), for a second or so it may' be at rest
every whiff of mind will throw it down. "This-
is called unstable equilibrium. Hold the pencil
by one end. (Here the Swami held the pencil
between his fingers and kept it hanging lik®'
a pendulum.) It is at rest, but being a*-
pendulum, it will go on oscillating* sometime,,
but after a while it will stop again. The-
equilibrium may be disturbed but it may be-
regained soon. In the first position of the-
pencil, the equilibrium may not be regained.
But there is a third kind of equilibrium. Place-
the pencil horizontally (here he laid down
the pencil on the table) it is at rest. Place-
it like that ; it is at rest. In this position,
wherever you place the pencil, it is at rest. It
is in equilibrium all the time. Just so there
are some people whose minds are all the time-
disturbed, all the time distracted, they cannot

<60 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

be in equilibrium : they cannot be at rest.
External circumstances bring them rest, but
they are distracted again. There are other
•people whose minds are usually calm, collected (
and quite, but being once disturbed they go on
•oscillating for a long, long time, and the
majority of men in this world are of that
mature. You are walking through the streets ;
somebody copies and shakes hands with you,
and makes some remark which is not
• complimentary, but critical, cynical. He goes
away but the act is done ; he made the remark,
and went away. The effect of that disturbance
-continues for hours and hours, sometimes for
►days and days, for weeks and weeks? for
months and nionths, sometimes even for years.
The effect of that remark remains and the
mind keeps on oscillating ; being once disturbed
it goes on oscillating ; goes on moving up and
►down ; and this state of mind, this oscillating
:state of mind ruins your life ; it takes away
all your time. Now just mark. The acts or
-the facts did not take much time. The act
•was the first motion which was given, but the
.after effects, or say, the oscillations of your

BALANCED MIND

61 ?

mind' take away your life. If you could?
prevent those peculiar oscillations, if yoh could?
overcome that inner disturbance, if you resist-
or bring under control that hesitation or that
continuous vibration of the mind, and*
palpitation; if you could overcome it, your
life would be the life of millions of men. Even,
your thirty years of life may be equivalent to'
hundreds and hundreds of years. Mark the
disease of your mind, the psychological disease,
from which you are suffering. Know that:
disease and cure it. The disease of your-
rnind is the oscillating tendency : when the-
thing is done the mind keeps on oscillating;
between a fear and a smile. These are only
pendulum-men. Now, the third kind of men.
are the heroes, the liberated souls. These are
men whose minds cannot be disturbed by any
circumstances ; let anything come to pass,.,
they are undisturbed, they are at rest. Place
them in the surging waves of the rolling ocean,
the same ; place them in war, the same. You .
are friends, you will talk to them to-day, you.,
make- all sorts of remarks, the remarks are
unanswered. The very moment you go away,.

''62 IN WOODS, OF GOD-REALIZATION

i the mind is as fresh and as pure as ever.

• Remaid with a free man fora thousand years,
..go away, and you have left no disturbance
there , The mirror shows your face back to
•you. You know the mirror does not exactly
portray your face. If you have an ear-ring
in the left ear, you will find the ear-ring
-in the right ear of the mirror, and so the
night becomes the left, and the left becomes
■the right. You remain before the mirror for

• a hundred years, and for a hundred years the
•mirror goes on answering you. Leave the
mirror, the mirror is just the same ; so is
the case with a liberated soul, or a man of
wisdom.- He is one upon whom the outside
stain can leave no tainting spot, whom nothing
:.can pollute, and who remains as free as ever.
You may come and praise him all the time;
go away and his mind will not afterwards be

• chewing the cud of your praise. You come and
pass critical cynical remarks ; you go away and
he will not be mminating over your criticisms.

..Free, free. He believes in his Divinity.

Now, Rama says that if you really study.,
Wedant-a and keep the Vedantic teachings

BALANCED MIND

63

-continually before you, and by self-suggestions
from Om, or from some other remarks, by
•self-suggestions in the right direction, you
remember your God-head and keep the reality
before you, your mind if originally of unstable
-equilibrium, will become of stable equilibrium,
.and if it is of stable equilibrium, it will acquire
neutral equilibrium by degrees ; and this
Vedanta, , this truth you have to keep before'
•you all the time. Rama will now tell you
?some outside aids and helps to. keep continually
in that state. Try it and you will see that
.even though this is not preached by people,
yet it is a wounderful advice. You will mark
it. When people come and have a talk with
Rama, sometimes remarks— -cynical, critical
remarks — are made, and then they go away.
Do you know how Rama keeps himself safe
from their suggestions? Different ways there
are. One way is this. You see that small
ibook before you. This is a marvellous book ;
.it was written by a man whose equal is not to
be found. This man is not famous, he is not
•worshipped in India. This book is not a
famous book,, like the Bhagavad Gita * ; it was

64 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

not written by Krishna ; it was written by a
man who was unknown to name and fame.
But here is a man who gives you all the
Christs, Krishnas, Budhas, all of that. Rama
takes up this book. It is in Sanskirit you know,
and when Rama reads one verse out of this,
book, that is enough to wipe out and wash
away all pollution of lives and lives ; it throws-
Rama at once into a state of ecstasy ; one
verse of this small book appeals to the heart
and uplifts, reasserts the God-head in Rama.
It destroys the knv nature and rends asunder
the veil of Maya at once. So Rama tells
you, you may keep a book of that kind. Ybu.
may have some psalms which lift you up,
inspire you ; you may have some songs which
inspire you immediately ; you may have some
poems which appeal to you ; you may have,,
say, the Bible ; you may have the Sermon
on the Mount. You may mark the passages
of your favourite authors, * the passages which
inspire you, or anything whatever that uplifts
you. You may: have; a small note-book in which
you keep collected all those sayings which

*It seernsRama tcictfr to Avadhut Qita here; Editor*

BALANCED MIND

65

inspire you or which uplift you* which fill you
with prayer. You may have this book. You
may have the poem 1 Written at the end of this
book. “Oh, brimful is my cup of Joy, ” that
poem, and you may have anything which stirs
you up. Keep that always right at hand and
after you ,hav.e mixed with your friends or
left any uncongenial company, instead of
allowing your mind to keep on oscillating, instead
of allowing your mind to remain in a disturbed
state, oscillating all the while, at once take
up this inspiring passage and make the mind
steady.

Now, you see Rama has told you the cause,
the mental disease. Rama has laid before you
the general malady of the human soul. The
general malady is this oscillating tendency,
and Rama has told you how you can keep the
mind steady.

We Will continue this subject next time.

' Om !- • 'Om ! i H '

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN

( Lecture delivered on February 8 , 1903 , in San
Francisco. )

We shall take up this afternoon the question,
"“Why do people suffer, why is there this
suffering in the world ? ”

Rama shall not take up this question from
the stand-point of history, or of what has been
read in historical writings, or of the sayings
of sages or the opinions of wise men. It is
true that all these great writers, all these great
thinkers and authors have spoken the truth.
They have told what occured to them to be
the absolute truth. But all the writings of
all the authors of the world put together do
but little good, unless you sift matters through
and through, and see by your own- personal
experience. Rama will say only what he has
seen through his own personal experience,
and what each and all may see by personal
experience.

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 67

There is a great tendency in these days to
arefer to some authority, to refer to a great
■name, a great historian, or a great scientist,
-and the speaker who can use these great names
is honoured most : this is a suicidal tendency.
Rama will tell you from his own experience,
and will tell you what you can learn by your
-own experiments.

The great cause of suffering in the world is
■that “we do not look within, we do not form
•our own opinions, we take matters too much
-on trust, we rely on outside forces to do our
■thinking.”

What other people say we take for granted,
•and we do not look within; we do not rely
-on our own stamina. In addition to belief in
Mohammad, Buddha or Krishna, we have
.created all sorts of fetishes before which we
how. Any child can criticize our conduct
and that is sufficient to throw ,us off our
■balance, and cause us suffering. W e care
.too much for the criticisms and opinions of
others, we spend too much time in currying
•favour with others. This idea of looking
-at ourselves through the eyes of others and not

68 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

looking at our true Self, not seeing ourselves
but through the eyes of others around us, is the
cause of our suffering. The habit of looking at.
ourselves through the eyes of others is called
vanity, self -aggrandisement. We want to appear
so good in the eyes of others, this is the evil of
society, the bane of all religion.

There was a man in India who was half
crazy, and just as ip the month of April, you.
make April fools in America, in the month of
March in India people play all sorts of jokes*
with their friends. The merry-making young
men of the village thought it high time to have •
sbme fun with this man. So they made him
drink some wine, and made him tipsy, and
then sent to him his most intimate and most:
trusted friend and companion. When this,
trusted friend' came up to this man, the friend
began to cry, to weep and, wail and shed
crocodile tears, and said, “O, I have just come
from your house and found your wife widowed*

I found your wife a widow.” And the crazy
fellow also began to cry and shed tears, he
began also to bewail the widowhood of hie
own wife. Finally, others came and said.

69

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN

'“Why do you weep ? ” The crazy man said,
"“0, I weep because my wife is a widow.”
They said to him, “How can that be ? You
;say your wife is a widow. You are not dead,
How can your wife become widowed unless
you, her husband, die ? You are ndt dead,
you are bewailing the widowhood of your own
'‘wife, that is self-contradictory.” The crazy
fellow said, “ O, go away, you don’t know,
you don’t understand, this my most trusted
friend told me, he had just come from my
bouse, and said that my wife was widowed.
He was an eye-witness to that fact, he saw
ber widowed. ” They said, “ Look here, what
a terrible absurdity this is ! ” ( Laughter )

Now, we laugh at this man because he bewailed
the widowhood of his wife and would not be
•persuaded that his. wife was not widowed
because he was £tlive ; but remember this terrible
absurdity is being perpetrated by all sects and
religions of this world, and by all the vain,
proud and fashionable people of the world.
They don’t look with their own eyes, they
don’t think with their own brains. Here is
your own Atman, your.true Self, the Light of

70 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

4

lights, Pure, Immutable, the Heaven of heavns.
within you. Your real Self, your own Atman-
is ever alive, ever present, never dead, and yet'
you cry and weep and shed tears and say, “0,.
when will, happiness come to me, ” and youi
invoke the gods to come and help you out of
your difficulty. There you prostrate yourselves,,
adopt sneaking habits, look down upon
yourselves. Becausse such a writer, such a.
divine or saint called himself a sinner, because-
he calls you worms, therefore you must do that,,
your salvation lies in thinking yourselves dead..
This is the way people look at matters, but it.
won’t do. Begin to realize your own life, begin
to feel your own Atman, bid adieu to this tipsy-
state which makes you bewail your own death.
Stand on your feet whether you are great or:
small, whether you are placed very high or
very low, care not a straw for that. Realize-
your Divinity, your Godhead. Look at anything,
in the face, shrink not. Look not at yourself
with the eyes of others but within your own,
Self. Your own Self will always tell you that,
you are the greatest Self in all the world.

Similarly, people say Vedanta, Buddhism

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 71

>

etc., tells them to think so, but Rama tells you.
Heaven from within tells you never to think
yourself „ dilapidated, decrepit, or worsted.
Realise the Divinity within.

“The mountain and the squirrel
Had a quarrel;

And the former called the latter 'Little Prig. -
Bun replied :

“You are doubtless very big *

But all sorts of things and weather
Must be taken in together.

To makeup a year
And a sphere.

And I think it no disgrace
To occupy my place.

If I’m not as large as you,

You are not so small as I,

And not half so spry.

I’ll not deny you make

A very pretty squirrel track.

Talents differ ; all’s well and wisely put.

If I cannot carry forests on my back.

Neither can you crack a nut.”

Thus your body may be like that of a little
squirrel .and another body beside you may be
as big as a mountain, but don’t think you are
small ; be as wise as the small squirrel.

72 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Remember that even if your .body is very little,
you have a function to discharge' in this world,
which the big body cannot perform. Then
why look down yourself? Be cheerful and
happy.

A gentleman came to Rama and said that
e his superior officer ill-treated him ail the
time. Rama told him that the superior officer
looked down upon him because be looked
down upon himself. If we respect our own
selves, everybody must respect us. If a value
of one cent is put upon this* little book,
nobody will pay two cents. for it, but a value of
25 cents is placed upon this little book and
everybody is willing to pay that amount for it.

Similarly set upon yourself a small value,
and nobody will take you at a high value.
Set upon yourself the highest value, respect
yourself, feel your Divinity, your Godhead,
and everybody must take you in the same way.
They say, faith will save you; but faith in
external principles will not save you ; faith in
your own Divinity will save you. Believe, have
living faith in your own Divinity, respect

* Rama had a book in his hand.

%

OUT OF. MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 73

•yourself, and everybody will respect you.

Well, the gentleman who had made a
complaint against hi? superior officer, being
instructed by Rama, began to spend his time
in realizing his Divinity. He began to pray
and pray. :Now prayer does not mean repeating
certain words. Prayer means feeling and
•realizing Divinity. He began to pray that
way. He found that the master was bound to
respect him and ; treat him well. One day the
•superior officer approached him in a' very
peevish mood. This man answered the superior
• officer in a most pleasant tone, in a most happy
way and said : —

“O sir, indeed you draw a much larger
r salary than , I do, arid I know that you do a
particular kind of work that I don’t do it is
true that I need you, but it is also true that
you need mOi Could you do without somebody
to fill my position •? You could not. So you
need me just as badly; as I need you, 'and
in- * fact you needed me first. You needed
sortie one to fill this position and you sent for 1
me. I do not serve you. If I am a servant, I
-serve rtiy own needs and wants j l am not your

74 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

servant, I am my own servant, I am servile to
nobody. Serving in a good sense is all right.”

That being the case, you are dependent on %
nobody in the world ; no servant is dependent
on any master if he is dependent on his own
desires- Outward dependence is illusory, real
dependence is on- our own self. That being,
the case, feel and realize your independence*.
Why should you consider yourself dependent
on God, Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna,.

' or any of the saints of this world ? Free you
are, each and all. The idea ef freedom brought
home makes you happy.

A man was taken to be a criminal by a
certain king of Asia, because he would not bow
before the king. This old king got offended,
when people did not bow before him. The
king said to the criminal, “Do you not know
what a powerful and strict monarch I am?'
Do you not know that I will kill you, you are so-
audacious?” The man spats in the king’s face,,
and looked so fiercely at " him that he was
exasperated. The man said, “O foolish dolly
chat you are, you have not the power or the-
authority to put me to death. I am my own.

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 75-

master. It is in , my power to spit in your face,,
it is in my power to insult you, and it is in my
power to see this body put on the cross or
scaffold. I am the master of my body. Your
authority is second-hand, my authority Gomes'
first.” Similarly, feel and realize that you.
are always your own master. Look at things
from the stand- point of your Atman, ands
not through the eyes of others. Feel your
independence, feel that you are the God of.
gods, the Lord of lords, for that you are.

Why do people Suffer? They suffer through
the ignorance of their own Self, which makes-
them forget their own Self, and which leads
them to think themselves to be what others
call them. So long as this ignorance is here,
so long as man does not realize his own
Divinity, there will always be suffering.

Ignorance is darkness, If you go into a
very dark room, you are certain to strike
against the wall, you are sure to hit your head
against something or injure yourself in some
way. It canndt be avoided, you cannot help,
it. In some of. the poor huts in India, the
people are so poor that they cannot afford

76 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

light in the houses. Rama has observed in
passing along the streets that upon entering
the house during the darkness of the night, the
master of the house would always find fault
with the wife and others of the household.
.'He would exclaim, “O, why do you keep this
table here, I broke my knee over it? Or why
did you put that chair there, I nearly broke
my hand over it ?” Or utter complaints of a
•similar nature. Is there any remedy? No,
-none ; for if the .wife removed the table or
chair to another corner or "part of the room,
•then the man would have to goto some other
place in the dark, and Would get hurt. So
long as "there is darkness, the kxleei the arm*
the neck or shoulders must be broken ; the head
must knock against the cornice or wall. It
•can’t be helped. If you simply light the room,
let things be where they are, you will not have
to bother ; you will then be able to walk unhUrt
from place to place.

So it is in the world. In order that your
.suffering may be remedied, you should not rely
on the adjustment of your surroundings or on
your position in life for the remedy, but depend

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 77

upon the remedy which deals only with the-
adjustment of the Sun within.,. All people are
trying to get rid of suffering by placing or
adjusting as it were the furniture, by placing
this and that differently in the world*, or by
accumulating money, or by building grand
houses or by acquiring certain land which
somebody else owns. By adjusting your
surroundings, or by placing your furniture in
this order or that, you can never escape
suffering. Suffering may be shunned, removed
and got rid of only by bringing light into your-
room, by having light, by having knowledge in
the closet of your hearts. Let darkness go and'.
, nothing will harm you.

There was a community of savages that,
lived in a certain part of the Himalayas,,
.savages who never lighted any fire. The old
savages of the world did not light fires, they
knew not how to make a fire.: They used to*
.live on dried fish, and never cooked their food
except by the heat of the sun, or dried it in the
sun. Before the evening came they went to
bed, and got up with the sun, and thus they
had no occasion to mix with material darkness..

"78 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

There was a big cave near the place where
they used to live. These savages thought that
•some of their most revered ancestors were
living in this cave. In fact some of their
ancestors had entered the dark cave and had
-died in it, the cave being dark, they got mired in
'the mud, or probably, struck their heads against
. the jagged walls of the cave. The savages looked
upon this cave as very holy, but these people,
not being accustomed to associate with
•darkness, the darkness in the cave was to them
-a giant monster which they wanted to get rid
•of. ( Laughter ) You laugh- at this absurdity,
•but the people of to-day are committing greater
absurdities. Well, some one told them that
the monster in the cave would leave, if they
approached the cave in a worshipful mood. So
-they went and prostrated themselves, threw
themselves on the ground in front of the cave,
this they did for. years* but the monster did not
leave: the cave by this reverence; Afterwards
some one told them that the monster would
f leave the cave if they bullied him, if they
•fought him. So they got all sorts of arrows
.and sticks and rocks, all kinds of weapons that

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 79

they could find* and began to shoot arrows into
the cave , and strike the darkness with sticks ;
hut the darkness did not move, it did not leave.
Another said, “Fast, fast. The darkness will
leave the cave by jour fasting. All these years
you have not been doing the right thing.
Fasting is what is needed.” The poor fellows
fasted and fasted. They sacrificed by fasting
but the darkness left not, the monster still did
not leave the cave. Then somebody said the
darkness would be dispelled if they distributed
alms. So they began to distribute all that they
had, but the monster did not leave the cave.
At last there came a man who said the monster
would leave the cave if they followed his advice.
They asked him what his advice was, and he
said, “Bring me some long sticks of bamboo,
-and some grass to fasten the bamboo-sticks
together, and some fish oil.” Then he asked
them to bring him some straw or rags or
something to burn. This man applied them
to the long end of the bamboo and by striking
a • stone against a piece of flint, he struck fire
and, lighted the straw at the end of the bamboo-
stick. Fire was made, and. .this was a queer

80 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

sight to ; these people, for this was the first time
they had seen fire. This man then told them
to take hold of the bamboo-stick and run it
into the cave, and with it catch hold of the
ears of the monster and drag him out of cave,,
if they met the monster, darkness. At first,
they did not believe in his theory and said that
could not be right, since their great-grandfathers^
had told them the monster would leave the
cave if they prostrated themselves before it or
if they fasted, or if they gave alms, and they
had practised all these things for many years,
and the monster had not left the cave. “And!
now,” they said, “here is & stranger;., he
surely cannot advise us aright ; his advice is
worth nothing. O, we will, not listen to it.”
So they put out the fire. But there were some
who were’ not so prejudiced. They took up
the light and went into the cave, and lo ! the
monster was not there. They went on and on
into the Cave (for it was a very long cave)
and still found no monster; then they thought
the monster must be hidden in the holes in the
cave, and so they thrust the. light into all the
holes in the cave,;, but there was no monster

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN- 81

anywhere, it was as if it had never been there.

Just so, ignorance is the monster, darkness,
which has entered the cave of your Hearts and
is making havoc there and turning it into a hell.
All anxiety, all suffering, all pain lies in yourself,
never outside. Suppose somebody '(falls you
names, or rebukes you ; such a person prepares
for you the food which, if taken info your
mouth, will hurt you. Thus, nothing can enrage
or excite you, unless you take it up and
appropriate it to yourself. Rama never takes
things" into himself ; people often .pass
lunfavourable remarks as he passes along the
streets, but such words have* no effect unless
they are taken up and believed to be true.

According to Vedanta, a person of
. realization is one who never takes the trouble
of tkkittg up or appropriating in the least any-
* poisonous feasts ; such a person never suffers
himself to be rebuffed or disturbed.

Be your true Self, be your Divinity. Take
pity on those people who are blaming or
defaming others. Never think yourself to be
maltreated;, down-trodden, or falfen. Feel,
feel your Divinity, live iri your Divinity ; all

82 IN . WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

else is darkness, all else is ignorance ; it is
darkness within you which creates a hell for
you. To get rid of this darkness, you may try
all sorts of methods but they will avail nothing.

If three hundred and thirty-three billions of
■Christs appear in the world, it will do no good,
unless you yourself undertake to remove the
darkness within. Depend] not on others. All
these processes of joining this Church or that,
this society or that society, worshipping this
Christ or that Krishna, this fetish or that, will
avail nothing. ■ Do all that you like, but it will
avail you nothing. The only remedy is Light^
aind Light is living knowledge, living faith in
your Divinity. That is the remedy, there is
no other.

O Divinity in the form of ladies and
gentlemen ! ' O my true Self in the form of
everybody !' ! 0 my own beloved real Self
in the form of all these bodies ! ! O blessed
Mother in the form of all these bodies ! 0

blessed Atman in the form of all these bodies ! !
Light simply means the realization of Truth to
such a degree , that all the apparent bodies and
forms may dwindle into nothingness.

83

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN

Light or -the true realization of Truth would
snake all these bodies transparent, would make
.all personalities evanescent. Whatever a
persbn appears, a man of realization never sees
the little ego, the apparent body, but only
-the Divinity. To him the apparent fo'rm or
bodies is an illusion ; it is darkness, ignorance.

The removal of ignorance means seeing
-God, seeing the real Self, seeing only Truth,
realizing Divinity only, and being exempt from
all fears- and all anxieties.

O Divinity! Divinity!! O my own
beloved,, dear, dear God in all these bodies ! ! !
People who in the eyes of others are called
-enemies, are all-, my own true Self ; those who
in the eyes of others are called friends, are
all , my own, true Self. See not the outside’
personality, see not the little ego ; seeing the
Divinity not only in, all Jodies, but in your own
body also is light, which makes you see Divinity
.ope and the same as yourself. Divinty is the
synonym of my true Self. That I, the true
Self, is everywhere. Realize that, feel that,
live that; and all walls, all difficulties, all
bars, .all barriers vanish. What a vision!

4

f

84 IN WOOPS OF GOD-REALIZATION

what a truth ! 1 what a grand fact ! ! ! It is a<
pity it cannot be described ; no words can
reach it, no language can portray it. It is a
fact. If you simply want it, if you crave for it,.,
it must come to you.

When we read Astronomy, we havet
to make astronomical calculations ; and in
calculating the distances between the different
stars, in estimating the great magnitudes of the
different stars, we come across such enormous-
figures that this earth, taken as a mathematical,
point, becomes a vanishing point.

Similarly, when you begin to realize the
Truth, to feel that you are the Light of lights,,
the Sun of suns, the God of gods, the Lord of
lords, all these astronomical stars, all these
gigantic Milky ways are a mere insignificant
speck. When you realize that, • when you feel
that and think that— O, how can- any of your
worldly bugbears produce any effect on- you?

If in-the presence of these great' stars, this
earth dwindles into nothingness,, then in the
presence of this Sun of suns, this Light of lights,,
in the presence of my own true Self, how can
these worldly troubles and anxieties keep any

\

ft

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 85

-dimensions ?

Realize the Truth, feel that, live that, and
-when you feel it in. its full intensity, nothing,
nothing will move you. Let millions of suns
be hurled into, annihilation, let an infinite
number of moons be melted into nothingness,
a man of realization, ,a man of light stands-
•immoveable like a rock. What harm can come
to him ? What is there that can bring suffering
to him ?

O wonder of wonders ! such enormous, such
infinite, such ineffable glory ! ! That is your real
Self, and it is ignored by the people.

That sun, that infinite sun is hidden by a
igmall curtain so close to the eyes that the whole
world is shut out. Such a glorious, majestic
Reality is shut out by such a little, insignificant
ignorance. 0, throw aside such enfeebling,
such weakening ignorance ; away with it.
Realize “ I am the Lord of lords, the Light of
lights, the Ineffable, the Indiscribable.” That
you are, that you are. 0, how plain, how
-clear does everything become when you feel
dhat Reality !

Rama tells you^ nothing from history, -from

86 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

the lives of great men. What Rama tells you?
is from his own personal experience, and it is;
what you can also realize for yourselves.

Rama tells you that when we realize the-
Truth and feel the Reality, the world is-
converted into a veritable Heaven for us.
There are then no foes, no fears, no troubles,,
no Anxieties, no pain. Verily, verily, it is so.

When we are at a great elevation, the-
small differences in the level of objects down-,
below “disappear. Down below, this house-
appears very high, and over there that house-
appears very low, or this street appears very
high arid another street appears very low ; but
when we ascend the high hill and look at these-
Same objects,- we dp not" mark the difference.
Similarly, when you rise to those heights of
spiritual glory, and when you feel the true-
Atman, when you realize the Truth within, then
to you the small differences of friend or foe,,
of malefactor, or benefactor, all disappear. It
is the perception of the small differences which
causes us uneasiness, which produces certain
unpleasant effects. Rise above this, so that,
the Reality becomes real, and - all differences*

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD V&THIN 87

disappear; this is what Vedanta calls —
Ekatwam. 5Rt God is the Reality ::

the world or phenomenon is illusion.

• Thus realize your own true Self, realize the 1
Atman to such a degree that this world may
become unreal and that God or the true-
Divinity within may become real. Oh, what a
crime you commit when you address your
brother as a man and do not realize** the Divinity
within him. By so doing you kill the Divinity
within him.

Crimes are called by many names,
matricide, homicide, and the like ; but by not
feeling the Divinity within each and all, you
commit the crime of God-cide or Deicide sd to
say. When you call a man father, brother,
son, friend or foe, and feel not the Divinity
within him, you employ words to such a degree
that the Divinity is killed out. When the body,
the form, or outside illusory shape becomes so
prominent that the God within is forgotten,
then you become worsted. You are
annihilated, so to speak, in this world, whenever
you try to kill out the Divinity within you.
This killing of God, of t the Divinity 'is

■88 ' IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

ignorance, and this ignorance is the cause of
suffering in this world. This truth will remain
a dream only if people do not practise it. It
is a fact; realise it and yotf make yourself
happy; feel ; it, live it, and you will see that
you live in a world of miracles, you will see
that all the powers serve you ; feel it, and all
the suns, stars and moons obey your commands.
This you will find by presisfent experiments. ■

Haypy the man who. can ever feel his
oneness with all, who can ever feel his true
Divinity.

There is a Sanskrit verse, the literal
meaning of which is “As darkness, accumulated,
in caves for centuries, takes no time to vacate
when light is brought, so it is with the man who
has accumulated darkness even from his birth,
all flies away when this Reality, this Divine
Light, shines in the closet of his heart”.

Rama sees this from personal experience
every day, that' when he sees the Divinity in the
man or person who appears, when he treats the
body of the man as God, or in other words,
when he sees not the personality hut sees the
Reality in the person, then he does not suffer ;

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 89

but when he sees only the body, sees only the
personality of the person, then does Rama
suffer. But from all these past shortcomings
and past successes, Rama has, by this time,
become wise to this degree' that never, never,
even in a dream is left any possibility of
looking on anybody as anything else but God.
Rama sees . that by takiijg you to be the true
Self, by feeling you to be his own Self, by
feeling all these bodies to be his, by, feeling all
these bodies to be the same as his, they are
bound tp feel the same way.

There was a man called Majnun. He was
■ called the prince of lovers. Nobody ever loved
as he did, but his lpve was for the personality,
the body of his lady ; and . it was so that he
could not see her.

Rama says, if you have desires and want
them fulfilled, you must leave .those desires,
you must rise above them. Well, this poor
fellow did 'not possess the secret ; yet he was
the ideal lover of the whole, world. . It is related
that he became crazy and went mad over his
..great disappointment, and the poor crazy
prince left his fathers house and roamed about

90 IN WOODS OF GOD-fcEALIZATION

the forest. If he saw a rose, he would rush to-
it thinking it to be his beloved one ; the cypresfe-
tree he caressed thinking it to be his beloved
one ; he came up to a deer and thought it to be
his beloved one. That was his feeling; he had'
transformed these little bodies into the body
of his beloved one, seeing that everywhere. His-
object of love was material and he suffered ^
through it.

Rama says, “Love as he loved, but let the
object of your love be the real Self, the God,
the Divinity.” Is not the whole world mad,.,
crazy after happiness, and happiness fs a.
synonym of God ? This poor fellow knew not
where to find true Happiness or God. Blessed -
is he who realizes the Truth like that Majnun, .
who realized his lady-love in the trees, in the
animals and in the flowers. Well, the poor
fellow at last fell senseless in the forest and
his father searching for him came upon the spot
where he was lying. He picked up the poor-
boy, wiped his face and said, “0 my beloved
son, do you recognize me*? ” Majnun was
staring vacantly, and he looked and looked, but
to him there was nothing left in the universe. .

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 91

Majnun’s whole frame was saying. “What is*
father, what is father ? ” The father said, “My
beloved son ! I ana your father, do you not
recognize me?” He said, “What is. father ?* y
—meaning — is there anything in this world but
my beloved one.

Realization means the same love of truth ast
this fellow had for his material object, for the-
flesh and shin. When you rise to that height
of Divine love, when you rise to such a degree-
that in your father, in your mother, in everybody
you see nothing but God, when you see in the
wife no wife but the beloved one, God ; then,,
indeed you do become God ; then, indeed are-
you in the presence of God. ’ v

So long as Majnun was alive, he could not
see his beloved one. The poet says .that
Majnun was brought into the presence of God,,
and God said, “0 fool, why did you love so-
much a material object a worldly object ; had.
you loved Me with a millionth part of the
intensity of love which you wasted upbn your
lady-love, I would have made you the Arch-
angel of Heaven.” It is related that Majnun
answered God in this way. “O God, I excuse

'92 IN WOODS OF SOD-REALIZATION

you for this.; but, if you were really so anxious
to be loved by me, why did you not come as
my beloved lady ? If you had the desire 'to
‘be worshipped, you should have become the
■object, the lady-love. ” This fellow turned the
tables, so to speak, but Rama says you must
have that same intense love of Truth, you must
love your Atman, you must think it the beloved
■one. Love it, feel, feel it as Majnun did, an<J
nothing else must come to you except it be
presented to you as the beloved Truth. You
must see the beloved Divinity in it, nothing
■else. . > . •

Now you say, “What is the use ? we don’t
want to realize it; we are happy, ( in this hell
of ours. ” Rama says, “You may be happy,
but that is your goal; so what is the use of
"wasting time,, trudging along the road. You
will have to come to this stage, but trudge not
along in the mud ; take the elevated railway,
take electric cars, nay, take wings, and don’t
waste time on the roadside.”

■ ' “* 1 ‘ t }

Observe your everyday surroundings ; and
what happens ? You will see that it is the
plan of Nature that you ^should reach that

1 out OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 93*

goal. This is what happens, it is a natural.,
phenomenon. When a person is in a calm,.,
sedate, placid .and happy mood,, by living in that
placid, tranquil mood for some time, he finds-
that some good news, good change, or something
good comes along ; it always cornea without:
exception. . . r

Live in that state of harmony, in that state -
of Calm and tranquillity, and you will see that
some friends will come, or some object of love-
will come or something flattering cOmes to you..
If ordinary people become elated over this-
success or attach' too much importance to this’,
beloved thing, that appears to them, if you
begin to lay that material form to your heart,
if you clasp it and stick to it, and love it so-
dearly, you will See that withdut fail, something.

indescribable comes and takes it away or makes

another change. That cannot be avoided; it is-

the Law. •

If books have not been written upon it, it is

nevertheless the Law. Thus when you cling to
that something, when you hold it so dear,,
something takes place which takes it away, and
you are sad and worsted, then two kinds of.

-94 IN' WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

phenomena take place. Some people . on
"becoming worsted begin to find fault. .. with
•circumstances, to struggle apd criticize
circumstances. Such people are visited by still
harder difficulties and they exclaim, “ O,
misfortunes never come singly.” People who
after one misfortune do not regain their
equilibrium, but go on fault-finding and
•criticizing, and go on struggling after frail
reeds — for these misfortunes do not come
•singly — but after suffering for some time, they
.are in a state of mind . to which is again added
the powef unseen. Then comes a state of
harmony, a state of resignation, a state of
leaving those desires, a state of geniality, a
state of universal peace, and then agairi the
•clouds disperse and fairer circumstances come.
Again they are misled and keep depending
upon . outside manifestations only, and again
are led into difficulties; and after a while , they
come to religion. It is said that misfortunes
lead to religion.

' Thus in. your everyday life there is day and
might. Every day of suffering is followed By a
might of pleasure, arid every night of pleasure

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 95

is- followed by a day of suffering. So long as
you keep clinging to forms, this rise and fall
will continue, it will go on one succeeding the
■other. Now,, what is the object of this inner
rise and fall? The object of this inner rise
.and fall is to make you realize the Sun within.

On the, earth is night and day, but in the
sun there is all day; it is the earth revolving
round the sun that makes night and day but
in the sun there is no night, there is always the.
God-light, always day.

Misfortune, anxiety and trouble are to make
jou realize the Heaven within. It is to make
you feel that you should realize the Sun of
sjips, the Light of lights within, and when you
realize that, you are above all worldly pain
and suffering, above fluctuations. You then go
, beyond and above all of -them.

Now, how is the object of these to raise
.us*?; The first coming of pleasure shows us
that it comes always when we get ourselves
' associated with or absorbed in the’ Divinity
■within, or when we get ourselves in harmony
with the universe. Thus it tells us that all
pleasures are ours when we are ip harmony with

96

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

the universe; they must be ours, it & the law.
The phenomena of pain tell tis that pain
always succeeds or follows the clinging or
attachment to the material, the illusory, the
mayavic objects. These pains tell us that our
clinging to the material and looking upon those
material objects as real, brings us pain, anxiety
and Suffering. Therefore pain tells us that
material objects are not real and we need not.
waste our time and energies on outside worldly
forms. All pains teach us that lesson. Rama
can take up the history of the world and explain,
it by this Law. You know that even in.
Shakespeare's drama, The Merchant of Venice,.
so long as Bass&nio was attached to the body
j,of Portia, he was worsted, he could not succeed,,
and in making the choice of the caskets, he was
in an indiscribable, state, he was in a state
where there' was no' body. There he was in a.
grand state. If does not mention God, Divinity
or Axch-anglesj but by reading clpseljr you will ,
find that while his soul was harmonious; while
he was one with Divinity, he succeeded. It
may he that Shakspeare has not brought it out.
clearly. Poets do not -depict it clearly, but it

f

| .
f. 1,

- OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 97

| is a fact proved every day. All pleasures tell

1 you that you must feel harmonious. They tell

you that you must be in unison with the All,
with the whole of Nature. Pains teach you the
negative side and tell you that you must not
cling to worldly things or feel them to be real.
Pains teach you that you must not kill the God
in all, you must not cling to forms and shapes
and forget God. All pleasures teach Vedanta,
and all pains teach Vedanta. Because all
people do not happen to believe it, does that
prove anything ? The world is unhappy because
it does notfrealize this truth. Realize the truth
and you become happy.

People in India have not the machinery
you have in this country. Earthen pots are
worked from the clay by the feet. The clay is
moulded by the feet in a deep basin, and a
double process is employed. From the inside
is kept some kind of support and from the
■outside strokes are applied by which the clay
* is moulded.

Similarly, the outside beating is making you
advance, making God of you. It is a double
process, keep the support within. Pains are

98 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION '

the hard strokes, and pleasures are the support
within. By pleasures and pains, character is-
being formed. Pain, which resembles the hard
strokes, as well as pleasures, which resemble
the support from behind, have for their object
the bringing out the Divinity in you, bringing
out the God in you, evolving your Divine
nature. It is the Law of Nature that at the
bayonet’s point, you must rise to your God-
head ; and if you don’t do that, well, slaps after
slap, knock after knock will be your lot. If
you want to avoid or escape slaps and knocks,
then please do realize the Atman, the true Self.
That is the goal.

O, happy, happy Rama,

Serene and peaceful, tranquil, calm.

My joy can nothing, nothing mar.

My course can nothing, nothing bar.

My livery were gods, men and birds.

My bliss supreme transcendeth words.

Here, there and everywhere,

There, where’s no more a “where ?”

Now, ever, anon, and then.

Then when's no more a “when
This, that, and which, and What,

That, that’s above a "what

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN 99-

' First, last, and mid, and high.

The one beyond a “why ?”

One, five and hundred, All,

Transcending number one and all.

The subject, object, knowledge, sight.

E’en that description is not right.

Was, is, and e’er shall be.

Confounder of the verb “to be”

The sweetest Self, the truest Me,

No me, no Thee, no He.

That is the real Self, the All, and yet the
Indescribable ; that ye are ! !

Realize this truth. Rama feels offended
when people come and worship the body of
Rama. Rama has joy, pleasure, happiness
enough within, to be altogether free from any
joy that comes to men through being flattered
or from riches.

Infinite, indescribable is my happiness.
The Divine source within is enough to make-
Rama rise above the necessity of seeking joy
at the door of name, fame, or wealth. Joy'
enough is within me.

0 feel, feel and realize. This will make;
you free of, all begging spirit which makes a
man seek worldly fame*

IDO IN WOODS OF GOD-REAZIZATION

There was a woman in India who had nine
sons. . One day a mendicant passed her house
and she gave him some alms. The mendicant
was so highly pleased that he invoked a blessing
upon her. He said, “O blessed Lord, make
this gracious lady the mother of seven children?’
When the well-meaning mendicant asked God
to make her the mother of seven children, she
was offended, for she had already nine children
and that meant a loss of two to her. She
begged the mendicant to bless her again, and
the mendicant again asked God to make her
the mother of seven ’children. The lady became
enraged and the people were attracted to the
scene and inquired as to the cause of excitement.
They were of course amused to know that
the blessing was not a blessing but a curse.
Similarly, Rama has indescribable joy within
himself, and let that joy be enjoyed by all,
that makes us free, free of all worldly things
- in this world.

Let the body, the personality, like the lily
on the Himalayan glaciers, bloom unknown,
unnoticed by any body. Let this body be
crucified, let it be put into prison let it be

OUT OF MISERY TO GOD WITHIN

101 .

swallowed fby the waves of the ocean, let it be'
scorched by the heat of - the Torrid Zone, let
anything come to |t, that joy cannot be abated.
Feel that happiness, that joy supreme within,,
and rise above all worldly vanity, worldly
tomfooleries, and all gloom.

Be the Lord of lords, the God of gods.

That ye are ! That ye are ! !

Om ! 0m ! !

*

I AM ALL LIGHT

C Lecture delivered on January 13, 1904 in Denver,
Colo.) * -

What is the real Self ? The body is not
the real Self, nor is the mind the real Self,
nor is this life the real Self. How do you
know that the world is? Through your
consciousness. Even your consciousness
undergoes three kinds of changes or moods.
There is the waking - consciousness, there is the
dreaming consciousness, and there is also the
deep-sleep consciousness. Your consciousness
being like a thermometer or barometer,'* it
gauges the temperature or the pressure of the
'world.

The consciousness in the wakeful state
indicates that the world is solid, rigid, set in
its laws and rules. The verdict of consciousness
in the dreaming condition is quite different.
But the dreaming and sleeping conditions are '
just as strong as the waking conditi6n. Again

I AM ALL LIGHT

103

we see that your sleeping experience takes just
as much time as the waking experience. In
your life you sleep just as much as you wake.
A child is, so to say, all the time asleep. All
the world undergoes that experience. The
reading or verdict of our consciousness in the
wakeful condition is flatly contradicted by the
verdict of consciousness in deep sleep or
-dreaming state.

Now that which is the same yesterday, to-
day, and for ever is real. This is the criterion;
of Truth accepted on all hands. That which
persists is real. This consciousness takes three
different forms from the subjective stand-point.
In the wakeful state this consciousness identifies
itself with the body, and when you use the word
* I, ’ you understand by it this body, this,
consciousness. It' assumes quite a different
state in thfe dreaming condition. You become
changed. The dreaming subject is not the
same ,as the waking subject. You' find in your
dreams that you are poor, whereas you are rich.
You find yourself surrounded by enemies, your,
house ris destroyed by fire and you barely
escape alive. In your dream you ,; may have

104

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

taken some water, and when you awake, you
find yourself thirsty. The dreaming subject
is different from the waking subject. So the
consciousness assumes one shape in the
dreaming condition, and another in the waking
condition, and it takes a third shape in the
deep Sleep condition. Your consciousness then
identifies itself with nothingness. You say,
“ I slept so sound that I dreamt nothing at
all. ” In the deep sleep condition there is
something in you which keeps awake all the
same, which does not sleep. That is your real
Self. That is distinct from the objective
consciousness, that is pure consciousness. That
is your Self.

A man comes up and says, “ At 12 o’clock
last night I was on Broadway Street and I saw
nothing. There was not a single individual
there at that time. ” We ask him to put down
in black and white the statement that there
was not a single individual present on the said
street at such a time. The man says it is a
true statement, for he himself was an eye
witness. Then the question is put, “ Are you
nobody or somebody ? In order that we may

I AM ALL LIGHT 105 -

accept this statement on your authority, it is
self-contradictory. You must be present there
if it is true. ”

When one is in the profoundest slumber,
on waking up they say they dreamed nothing.
We say, brother, you make, this statement
that there was nothing there, but in order that
this statement may be correct, you should
come forth as a witness. If you had been
really absent, wherefore this evidence that you
give ? There is something in you which is
awake even in that deep sleep. That is your
real Self, that is Absolute Will or Absolute
Consciousness.

See how the whole world expands from it.
Look at rivers. They have three states. One
that of a glacier, the other that of small
rivulets and brooks. The snow has thawed
and the river is in a very soft, quiet, gentle
condition. The third conditon is when the
river has left the mountains and gone into the
plains and become very turbulent and filled
with mud. These are the three conditions.

In the first condition in the mountains, the
image of the sun was not seen in the snow.

106 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

In the second and third it is seen. In the
second state the river was not navigable, it
was not of any practical value, but still it
was very beautiful. In the third condition it
is navigable and the fields and valleys are
fertilized also. So we see there were two
things present; one was the sun and the other
■the river.

One is the Sun of suns in you, which is
God in the deep sleep condition. That Sup
of suns shines upon the congealed snow; that
Sun of suns is the witness, the motionless, the
unmanifest. When (the Sun keeps shining on
that nothingness in you for sometime, say in
the deep sleep state, the Sun of suns in you
keeps itself in a shining, heating condition,
making the causal body in you melt, and from
that nothingness flows out the dreaming
condition. This is what the Bible says,“God
created the world out of nothing.” There
was God and that which is called nothing in
the first place. Just as the sun , creates the
rivers out of the snow, the Sun of suns the
God in you, shone upon the seeming nothing —
which the Hindu calls Maya — and outflew the

I AM ALL LIGHT

107

•subject and object. The subject means the
perceiver and the object is that which is
perceived.

The dreaming ■ experience is to the wakeful
•experience, as the tender, small rivulet is to
the mighty river. They say that man is made
in the image of God. In deep sleep you have
no ego in you, while in the dreaming and
wakeful conditions you have. In the dreaming
and waking conditions you have the reflection,
of God. The real Self is God, the Sun,
and not this reflected image. In dreams you
see all sorts of things. In order to see
anything,' in what light have you to see it ?
Is it the light of the moon, the light of the
•stars or the sun that enables us to see things ?
No. Now what light is it that enables you
’ to see all sorts of things in dreams ? It is
the Light within you. It is the same Light
which makes every object visible. This Light
•which enables you to see all sorts of things
in the dreams simply shone free in the deep
•sleep state. It makes the objects in the dreams
•visible, so that Light remains constant in. the
deep sleep state as well as in the dreaming

108 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

state. Just as in the dream if you see the
moon, the moon as well as the light of the
moon owes its existence to the Light within.

To-day it has been proved that you are all
Light. You are the Light of lights. Just as
in the stream, you know that the sun which is
at the source is the same as at the mouth, so
the real Self, in you is the same in the deep
sleep, the dreaming, and the wakeful states.
That thou art. Identify yourself with that
reality within, . then you are strong and full of
power. If you identify yourself with fickle,
changeable things, it is like a rolling stone
gathering no moss. The sun is the* same at
the source, the middle, and the.mouth of not
only one river, but it is the same in all the
rivers of the world.

That Light of lights in you is the real 1
Self of the deep sleep, the dreaming and the
wakeful states of all the people in the world.
That Light is not different from the objects,
upon which it shines. You are that Light of
lights. Dwell upon this idea that you are the
Light of lights. That am I. I am the Light
of lights. Identify yourself with the Light of

I AM ALL LIGHT

109

lights. That is your real essence. No fears,
no frowns, no sorrow, every where" it is that.
The Lights of lights, the constant, the
unchangeable, the same yesterday, to-day, and
forever. Iam the Light of lights; the whole
world appears as mere eddies and waves, as
mere ripples and rings.

The following method will be found
•extremely beneficial towards lifting the veil
enveloping the ‘little self.’

People say ‘when you walk, have a friend
to talk.’ This i!s fallacious for the following
reasons : —

First. When we walk alone, our breath is
natural, rythmical and conducive to health.
For this reason, Kant towards the close of
his life always walked alone to keep up to a good
harmony of breath, and he lived up the
old age. When we walk alone, we can breathei
through the nostrils, but when we are talking,
we have to breathe through our mouths.
Breathing through the nostrils is always
invigorating and gives strength to the lungs.
God breathed into the nostrils of man and not
into the mouth. -We may exhale through the

210

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

mouth, but we should always inhale through
the nostrils. The air that enters the lungs is.
sifted by the hair in the nostrils.

Second . When we are walking alone, we
are in the best mood to think, and sublime-'
thoughts just seek us. Lord Clive somehow
stumbled on this secret and used to walk up
and down when he had to think upon a most
intricate problem in Indian politics. Thus
walking alone is extremely beneficial in
intellectual culture. When we are walking in
company, or when we are walking with people
who are all the time forcing their ideas on us y
we shut out upon ourselves the original and
sublime thoughts which had to visit us
otherwise.

Third. From the spiritual stand-point,,
when walking alone, the mind shakes off the
4 dividing forces and the discordant elements
and gets 'its centre; and imagination, which is.
the relaxation of the soul, finds an opportunity
to enjoy . itself. The whole system is
invigorated.

Make this auto-suggestion to yourself that
you are happiness incarnate. “I am the

I AM ALL LIGHT 111'

Light of lights.” That is the idea which is to be-
emphasized in cultivating our higher faculties.
Walking in the moon-light or early in the
morning has indescribable benefits connected
with it. Walk towards the- setting or towards
the rising sun, walk on the banks of rivers^
walk where the cool breeze is playing, and you.
will find yourself in tune with nature, in.
harmony with the universe.

OM ! OM i ! OM ! ! !

be not centre out.

( Lecture delivered on June 9, 1903 at Castle
Springs')

The way with the people here is to keep
talking while they are eating, but in India it
is different. There, while you are eating, you
have never to talk. You know while eating
everybody has to do that process religiously
.as it were, has to make it sacred. With every
morsel of food that goes into your mouth, you
have to contemplate on the idea that this
morsel is a representation of the outside earth
.and here am I incorporating into me the whole
universe. And .while they are eating, they
•constantly keep that thought in their mind and
chant OM, mentally realizing and feeling that
the whole world is incorporated in me. OM,
OM, the universe is in me, the world is my
body. Thus with every morsel they find
themselves spiritually strengthened. Spiritual
.and physical meat go together. The whole

BE NOT CENTRE' OUT 113

world is I, my own flesh and blood. The food
is a representative of the whole world, my own
flesh and blood. All is oneness. That being
already familiar to the Hindu minds, all those
ideas flock into their minds and the feelings,
emotional nature and will power are streng-
thened to such a degree that realization comes
immediately, and the very process of eating*-
called animal process, is a realizing process.

While bathing, you are to chant a syllable
which means water ; water is the ocean of
solid earth. Stripped of the clothes the body
is united with ' the water, the body is receiving
* that water into every pore and we are one
with nature, one with .the fish, regaining out
brotherhood with the water of the universe..
Just as the water is taking off the soil and dirt
from the body, so is the soil taken off the soul.,
i - The whole universe is my f odd, I am eating air..
Similarly every process and very act of life,,
according to the Vedanta, may be turned;
into a religious act. Even diseases are deified..

| When smallpox visits a house in India, they

. never worry, never ^4° an y thing, they rejoice,
j Is it not wonderful? They have all sorts of

114 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

music, it is a most religious occasion. Divinity
is worshipped by each and all in the house.
They have no grief or anxious desires. When
the child is cured, they celebrate the worship
of the Divinity by giving away money, and
beating drums and making great show of joy
and happiness, expressing their gratitude and
love to the divine universe. Now- a- days these
ceremonies have lost their significance to the
masses. Whether the people understand that
or not, Rama knows the meaning and puts all
that to the best use.

Rama recommends one thihg to everyone
of you. Early in the morning when- you get
up or are walking or doing anything else, keep
your thoughts always at home. Keep yourself
always in centre. Be not centre out. Just as
the fish live in the ocean of water, just as the
birds live in the ocean of air, just so you live
in the ocean of light. ;Jn light you live, move,
and have your being. • Even when it is dark, it

is light th&n according to Science; -The inner

*

light is always present. In The deep sleep
state, light is present. Iri “ order : to aid
concentration, in- order -to - rise to the highest

BE NOT CENTRE OUT

115

summit of realization for beginners, it is found
absolutely necessary to 'associate their being
with light.

We do not worship light , as a material
thing, as the Roman Catholics do with their
e idols. .As a most decided step which is
calculated to bring you realization of Self, it
is preached over and over again in the Hindu
Scriptures that you must begin by continually
contemplating the light of the world as yourself.
When you are chanting OM, feel that you are
Light, Glory. Light you are. This idea which
is so scientifically brought about in the Hindu
Scriptures, was stumbled upon by all the
prophets. Christ said, “I am the light of the
world.” Mohammed and all the great saints
spoke in the same way. As light you permeate
.all things. These ideas are to be constantly
.kept before one and in that way you are
.always in touch with Divinity. Thus with the
Hindu, everything is done from a religious
.stand-point, always in harmony with' the Spirit.

Willing or unwilling, all the forces of
nature are bound to bring man to the realization
of Self. Favourable as well as unfavourable

116 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

circumstances make, no difference whatever-
Just as in walking we raise one foot and them
the other is brought down, pleasure and pain.
Continually following each other, this process is
working throughout the whole universe. Those
people are really happy who keep themselves
above worldly pleasures and pains. Both of
them are to be avoided and therein lies true-
happiness. One is as welcome as the other.
Wordly pleasures and pains do not appear to-
him as being different, one is as acceptable as
the other to the man who rises above them.
In the womb of every pleasure is pain present,,
and in the womb of every pain is pleasure
present. He who takes up ; the pleasures must
take up the pains also. They are inseparable.
The way to true happiness is to rise above
them. Enjoy the Self all the time. . That man
is free who can enjoy the pleasures as well. as
the pains. Live in the real Self always, and
nothing can mar your happiness. All nature
pays homage to the man who is free, the whole
universe bows down before him. I am that,
there you are free. Whether this is apprecia-
ble to-day or not, it remains a stern reality,,

«

BE NOT CENTRE OUT 117

-and it must be realized sooner or later by all.
The chanting of, SOHAM and OM is simply
to keep you in the truth. The greatest fall is
'being brought down to the plane of causality.
The very moment one begins to reflect upon
the causes of the phenomena in the world, from
the very moment one falls. A child is above
■causation,, he enjoys everything and cares not
dor reason. So he is cheerful and happy. He
is above the plane of causation, causality.
Instead of falling into the plane of causation,
you must rise into Divinity. I am simply the
'witness of the phenomena, never entangled in
them, always above them. All these phenomena
are simply harmonic vibrations,* the upward
.'and downward motion of the wheel, the raising
and bringing down of the step. The object is
to make you rise above caustion and not to
bring you down. Continuous struggles and
efforts have, to be made to rise above the plane
■of causation. Live in your Godhead and
-you are free, your own master. Ruler of the
Universe.

OM! OM! OM!

AIDS TO REALIZATION OR
PRANAYAMA

( Lecture delivered on March 8, 1903)

To-day Rama will discourse on certain
matters which will be of great help to those
who have listened to his previous lectures.
We will take up Pranayama first. Pranayama
literally means “control of breath’’. The
Hindu books on , Yoga give eight principal
methods of controlling the. breath. But Rama
will lay before you only one method known as
Pranayama, a very important method of
controlling the breath. You will put the
question what is the use of controlling the
breath ? In answer to that Rama simply says, ,
“ Learn this method of controlling the breath
and put it into practice, and your own., practice
will show that it is extremely useful, highly
beneficial.” Whenever you feel dizzy, whenever
you feel in dumps, in blues, dejected,
crestfallen, whenever you feel put out, practise

' i

AIDS TO REALIZATION OR PRANAYAMA 119

Pranayama, which Rama is going to lay before
you, and you will see that immediately you are
rested. You will find the immediate use of
this way of controlling the breath. Again when
you begin , to write on any subject, when you
begin to think on any subject, and you find
that you cannot control your thoughts, practise
this Pranayama and immediately you will
marvel at the powers you will attain.
Everything is in order. Eeverything is put in
the most desirable state. These are the
benefits of Pranayama. It will cure you of
many physical diseases. You will be cured of
stomachache, heartache, headache by
Pranayama.. We will now see what is that.
In this country people are trying to control the
breath this way or that, but Rama lays before
you a method which has stood the test of time,
which was practised in India in the most
antcient days, and which is practised there even
to-day, and all those who have practised it
-there from the most ancient times to the present
time* have found it highly beneficial.

Well,- in order to practise Pranayama you
must sit in a most, comfortable, easy 'position -;

120 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

to sit cross-legged is the most comfortable
posture, but this posture will kill you, a West
Indian. You may sit in an easy chair. Keep
your body straight, back-bone stiff, head up,
chest out, eyes front. Place the right hand
thumb on the right nostril, and inhale the
breath slowly through the left nostril. Go on
inhaling slowly, until you feel at ease, go on
inhaling as long as you conveniently can.
While inhaling, let not the mind be vacant.
While you are inhaling, 4et the mind be
concentrated on the thought that all
omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Divinity
is being inhaled, that you are drinking .Divinity
the godhead, the whole world, the whole
universe. Well, when you think you have
filled in the air to your best, then close the left
nostril, through which you were inhaling, by
finger, and when you stop.both nostrils, let not
the breath escape through the mouth ; keep the
inhaled breath within you in the lungs, in the
stomach, in the abdomen, all the cavities being
filled with air, the \ air which you have inhaled,
and when the breathed air is in you, let not the
mind be vacant, let the mind be centred in the

AIDS TO REALIZATION OR PRANAYAMA 121

idea, in the truth that you are Divinity, the
Almighty God that fills, permeates and pervades
-everything, every atom and molecule in the
universe. Feel that. Put forth all your energies
to realize tfyat idea, apply all your strength to
feel your Divinity. Just as the breath fills
your body, so realize and feel that you are the
truth, you are -the power divine that fills the
whole universe. Feel that. You want to
concentrate your minds on that. When you
think that you cannot hold the breath any
longer, then keep the left hand nostril shut,
open the right hand nostril and through the
right hand nostril, slowly, gradually exhale.
There let the mind not remain at rest, let it
work, let it feel that Just as the breath comes,
and impurities of the stomach are being driven
off, so is all impurity, unchastity, all that was
unclean, all that was wicked, savouring of
wickedness, all ignorance is exhaled, driven
off and deserted. All weakness is gone; no
weakness, no ignorance, no fear, no anxiety,
no pain, no worry, no troubles, all ceased,
gone, left you. When you have exhaled, when
you have .breathed out so far as you most

122 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION'

conveniently can, go on exhaling so long as-
you conveniently can, and when you think that
you cannot exhale any longer, then try to keep-
all air shut out with both nostrils open. Take
off the, hand from your nose ; don’t allqw the
air to come in for sometime, for as long as you
can, and while by your efforts the air is not
allowed to enter the lungs through the nostrils,,
let the mind be again at work and let it feel,
let it be exerted to its full power and strength, ,
in realizing that this is the unlimited Divinity.
All time and space is thought by me, my own-
real Atman, Self, beyond time, space and
causation, feel that this Divinity is beyond time, .
space and causation, is not limited by anything
in this world. It is beyond imagination, beyond
thought, beyond all that, beyond everything,,
not limited, everything is contained in it,,
everything is limited by it, the Atman or Self
cannot be limited. . Feel that.

Thus you mark .that in this Pranayctma, as
laid before- you so far, there are four processes, .
both physical and mental. The first process
was inhaling. The inhaling part was the:
physical process, and the idea, the way of.

AIDS TO REALIZATION OR PRANAYAMA 123

feeling and thinking and applying your mind
and exerting your energy to realize that
Divinity, that Divinity am I, Divinity is Me ;
this idea was the mental process connected
with it. Again, while you kept the .breath in*
your lungs, there was a double process, the
physical process of keeping it in your lungs,
and the mental process of feeling that you
were the whole universe, and in the third
process you exhaled through the right nostril,,
and threw off all weakness ; firm determination
to keep yourself rooted, established, seated in
the Divinity, never to allow any weakness or
any demon temptation to approach you, and
then there was the fourth process of keeping
the breath outside. Thus the first half of
Pranayama is done up to so far in this fourth
process. One half is finished. After going
through this fourth process, you may take a
little rest. Then allow the breath to fill your
nostrils, as it may. Inhale and exhale just as
you. inhale and exhale rapidly after taking a
long walk. This natural inhalation and
exhalation which will go on very rapidly is
Pranayama by itself. .That is the natural

224 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Pranayama. So after taking rest this way,
after allowing your lungs to inhale and exhale
for sometime, begin again. Now begin, not
with the left hand but with the right hand
nostril. Mental process the same as before.
■Only the nostrils are changed. Inhale through
the right hand nostril, and while inhaling, feej
that you are inhaling , Divinity, and after
inhaling to your fill, so long as conveniently
you can, keep the breath within you, and again,
when the breath is within, you, feel that you
are the breath and life of the whole universe,
you fill and enliven the wide world, and after
that exhale through the left hand nostril, exhale
through the nostril through which you inhaled
in the first half of Pranayama and feel that
you are driving off, just as the sun drives off
the mist, fog, ' cold, darkness ; so feel that
all weakness, all darkness is being driven off
from your mind. No mist, fog, darkness or
cold. And then keep the breath outside your
nose, and try to elongate and lengthen every
process. Altogether we have got eight
processes in this. The first four processes
form one-half of the Pranayama, and the last

AIDS TO REALIZATION OR PRANAYAMA 125<

four form the second half of the Pranayama -
Try to lengthen every one of these processes-
as long as and as much as you can. Here is
harmonious motion ; just as a pendulum has
got double oscillation, so here you have to-
inake a pendulum of your breath, harmonious
motion. You will see by your own experience-
that you gain immense strength. Most of your
diseases leave you ; consumption, diseases of
the stomach, blood diseases, and almost every-
disease will leave you if you practise that.

Well, Rama finds that when people begin-
to practise Pranayama, most of them fall sick.
The reason is that they do not adopt the-
natural course. They begin to inhale and
exhale for such a long interval that will tnake
them sick. Be natural in every part of this-
breathing. Make efforts, do your best to-
lengthen every process, but do not fatigue
yourself. Do not work much yourself. If after
performing only the first two processes, say,
the inhalatioii and keeping the breath in your
lungs, you feel tired, stop. Stop, you are-
under no obligation. The next day be more-
considerate, and while performing the first.,

126 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

process or the second process, try to keep your
■energies reserved, so that you may be able to
continue the remaining processes ; be judicious.

Well, this is the only favourable method
of controlling the breath. This is a kind of
physical exercise. Those who think that this
Pranayama has got something mystical, some
divine meaning in it, are mistaken. Those
wjho think that the highest realization culminate
in it and that there is nothing higher than it,
■are mistaken. Pranayama or this control of
breath has nothing supernatural in it. It is an
ordinary exercise. Just as you go out and take
physical exercise, so is this a kind of exercise
of the lungs. There is no real sighificane in
it, nothing mystic about it.

One thing more ought to be said in
connection with Pranayama. When you begin
to inhale or exhale, keep your ( you will pardon
if Rama uses that word) abdomen, the lower
part of the body, drawn in. That will be of
.great use to you. Again when you inhale and
•exhale, let the breath reach and fill all your
belly. Let not the breath simply go up to the
heart and no farther. Let the breath go deeper

AIDS TO- REALIZATION OR PRANAYAMA 127

'down. Let every cavity, of your body, all the
upper half of your body be filled. W ell, this
will do for Pranayama and those who want to
concentrate their minds on Vedantic lines, will
find it a wonderful aid to practise Pranayama
before they begin to ehant OM, before they
begin to concentrate their mind on any method
they have read in the Vedantic literature.

Now will Rama lay before you one method
of concentrating the mind. This paper you
need not begin to read just now. Rama will
let you know howto read it. Well, you know
this is for those who have been attending
Rama’s lectures. Those who have not attended
the lectures will not find it interesting, will not
he able to find any good in it, perhaps, still
the method of reading it will do* them some
good. They can apply that- method to their
-own prayers. They need not take this paper -
■with them, they may learn the method and
apply it to their own prayers. : If you think
that these typed papers are of any good, you
can get them printed, anyone of you for your
own use. This is a form of prayer. It is not
a prayer in the sense that it begs, asks, or seeks -

%

128 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

anything from God. It is a prayer in this sense
that it enables you to realize your Divinity.
Most of you have got that red book on
“ Realization’ by . Rama. Well, this paper
is on the same line as that book. This paper,,
meaning the one entitled Soham at the end of
this lecture, you can keep in your pockets all
the time, and whenever you feel that the
circumstances! of your position are too much for
you, whenever you feel the burden of cares,,
worries, anxieties of your.sveryday life weighing'
you down, take up this paper, sit in solitude
and begin to read it in the way which Rama
will illustrate to-night.

Sit at your ease. Sit in the same way as
yOu were asked to sit when practising
Pranayama. you may close your eyes, begin,
in a prayerful mood, or “keep your eyes half
closed, just as you wish.

“There is but one reality, OM ! OM ! !
OM‘ ! ! ! ” Read that and lay aside the paper,
let it rest there. “ There is but one reality.”
You know that, that is the truth. At least all
those who have taken interest in Rama’s
lectures know that that is the truth, and when

AIDS TO REALIZATION OR PRANAYAMA 129

you are convinced that that is the truth,
feel it. There is but one reality. Say that in
the language of feeling, say that with your
whole heart ; melt in the idea. “There is but
one reality,’* OM ! OM ! ! OM ! ! ! Now see,
after writing this verse. “ There is but one
reality” there is written opposite to it OM £
OM ! ! OM ! ! ! What does that signify ?
That signifies that when you have filled your
heart, saturated your mind with the idea that
there is but one reality, instead of reading out
all these words, one, two, three, four, five, say
only one word, OM, as this one word represents
the whole idea for you. Just as in Algebra, we
represent big quantities by x or y, a or b or
some other letter, so when you have read out
this thought “There is but one reality,” this
natne OM, which is the holy of holies, this
name OM possessing the highest powers o£
Divinity or God, should be chanted, and while
chanting it feel the idea that there is but one
reality, while your lips are chanting OM, your
whole soul should feel the idea that is but one
reality; but at present to you the words “ There
is but one reality ” are most probably mere

130

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

jargon, they convey no sense to you. If you
have heard Rama’s lectures, you must know
that there is but one reality. It ought to have
a concrete meaning to you. It means that all
this phenomena] universe which dampens our
spirit and mars our joy, all this phenomenal
universe of difference is no reality, the reality
is only one, all the circumstances are no reality.
This is the meaning. The reality is only one
and these baffling circumstances are no reality.
Those who have not tried this experiment, and
have frittered away their energies, alone deny
the existence of this one reality. It is just as
much a matter of experience as any experiment
performed in any laboratory, it is a solid, stem
fact. When you melt- your mind, when you
lose your little false self in the Divinity, what
is the consequence ? The consequence is ( make
these words of Jesus of Nazareth ) that if you
hate a mustard seed worth of faith and bid the
mountain, to come, it .will come. Live that
reality, feel that reality and you will see that
all your circumstances, all your imminent,
dangers, all the troubles and anxieties that
stare you in the face, are bound to disappear.

AIDS TO REALIZATION OR PRANAYAMA 131

You put more faith in the outside phenomena
than in the Divinity, you make the world more
real than God. You have hypnotized yourself
into a rigidity with regard to outside
phenomena, and thus it is that you involve
yourself in all sorts of sickness and , trouble.
Take up this paper whenever you are much
dejected, and feel that there is but one reality.
'See that this one statement is a higher statement
than all the so-called truths insinuated in you
through the books. All the so-called facts
which you believed to be facts, are simply an
illusion, a delusion, hypnotized into you by the
senses. Be not dupes of the senses. Somebody
comes and finds fault with you, and criticizes
you; another comes and abuses you, another
comes and puffs you up and flatters you ; all
these are not facts, all these are not reality ;
the reality, the stern fact you should feel. When
chanting this, bar out and drive out, dispel and
expel all the belief that you have put into the
outside phenomenal circumstances, put forth
all your energies and strength on this fact,
“ There is but one reality ” feel that. “ There
is but one ? reality ” OM ! OM !! CM !!! Well,

132 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

oftentimes you will see that reading out for the
first time the idea of “ There is but one reality ”
will make you cheerful and happy, will keep
you above all pain and difficulty ; but if you
feel inclined to read further, you may, otherwise
it is enough, if you can put into practice only
one sentence of that in your pocket. If you
think you require some more strength, read the
next sentence, “ |That reality is- Myself.” Now*
it comes nearer home. Oh, my neighbour is
not different from me, I am present there also.
That reality is Myself. OM ! OM ! ! OM I ! 1
Mark, some people say that when you are
chanting OM or doing this* keep your hands
closed ; no restrictions of any kind. Feel the
idea. It is not necessary when concentrating
to throw yourself in any definite position. No
restrictions. When you are feeling, feeling and
trying to breathe in and take in the idea, then
care not about the body, be not concerned
about what the people will say. If you are
inclined to sing, go on singing. If you are
inclined to lie down, lie down on the floor.
Feel the idea. If your hands strike that way,
let them strike. No restrictions as to the body;

AIDS TO REALIZATION OR PRANAYAMA. 133

feel the idea. Here comes the idea
‘Omnipotent,’ dwell on it;. This paper, is
for those who have attended the lectures.
Those who have not, will of course not find
it of much interest. Those who have attended
the lectures will know that the real Atman is
all power, the Self Supreme is omnipotent.
With regard to that, everything in this world
is being done through the Atman, just as through
the sun is everything being done on this earth.
The wind blows on account of the sun, the
grass grows on account of the sun, the river
flows through the sun, people wake up on
account of the sun, the roses bloom on account
of the sun. Similarly, it is on account of the
Atman, on account of the Omnipotent Self
Supreme that every phenomenon is taking place
in the universe. ‘ Omnipotent, ’ ‘ Omnipotent, ’
OM ! OM ! ! OM ! ! ! Thus all the doubts which
weaken and baffle you, all the misunderstandings
which make a coward of you, have no right to
make their entrance into your holy presence,
feel that you are Omnipotent. Just as you
think, so you become. Call yourself a sinner
and you must become a sinner; call yourself a

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IN WOODS OF GOD-KEALIZATION

fool and you must become a fool, call your self
weak and there is no power in this world that
can make you strong. Feel that Omnipotence
and Omnipotent you are.

Then comes ‘Omniscient.’ Take up this
idea, let the mind dwell on that thought, sing,
OM. The word OM stands for ‘Omniscience’,,
and chant OM. The word or formula to be
chanted is OM ; ‘ Omniscience, ’ OM ! OM ! !

Proceed this way and let those wrong notions,,
which hypnotize you into, ignorant fools, be
dispensed with. The most direct road to
Godhead is that.

Take up the similar idea ‘Omnipresent/
Feel that you are not finite, not this little body
you are not this little self, this Jiva ; this ego
you are not. That which permeates and

pervades every molecule and atom, th^t is your
Self. Bear in mind not the least doubt kbout it.
Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent that I
am, that pervades everything, all bodies are
mine. OM ! OM ! ! OM ! ! !

Well, Rama need not dwell on the
remaining sentences, they will simply be read
out to you. Practise this method and Rama is-

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION 135

wrong if you do not realise Divinity and truth
in one week.

“ Perfect health is me.”

If that body which you call mine is sick,
leave it aside, do not think of it, feel that you
are health itself, perfect health is yours. Feet
that. The body will immediately become
healthy of its own accord. This is the secret.
Try and you will see whether it is a fact or
not. Despite yourself the body will get well.
You should not care for this body. “O God,
make me well. ” There is a beautiful Mantram
in the Sanskrit Scriptures “jiwttcUT
This Truth cannot be found by the weak.
Don’t you see when you go to the President of
the United States or to a King, you are
expelled if you go as a beggar, you are not
allowed to enter his presence. So when you
approach God in a beggarly state, you will be
knocked out. Feel that you are health, don’t
ask anything. I am health, and health you are.

Then comes the next idea — “ All power am
I. ” Keep that in your mind and chant OM !
DM ! ! OM ! ! ! Thus say ‘ All power am 1/
Then the next idea, “ All the universe is

138 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

by taking the holy name of God and chanting,
OM ? Why should we pay five cents every
day ? ” Their faith was strong as adamant..
The next day they came and simply chanted
OM, paid nothing to the boatman, began to
wade the river, crossed the river and were riot
drowned. Day after day they began to cross
the river, they paid no money to the boatman.
After about a month or so they felt very
grateful to the teacher who had recited the
texts -which saved their cents, saved their
money. They asked the sage to be kind
enough to dine at their bouse. Well, the request
was granted, the sage had to go to their house
on the appointed day. One of those maids
came to fetch him. While this maid was
conducting the sage to their village, they came
to the river, and there in a trice the maid went
up to the opposite shore, and the sage remained
on the other bank, could not follow her. In a
short while the maid came back and asked the
reason of his delay. He said that he was
waiting for the boatman. The boatman ought
to take . him to the opposite shore. The maid
replied, “Sir, we ate so thankful to you. You.

AIDS TO REALIZATION OR PRANAYAMA 13*

have been so kind as to save us full 35 cents-
piece, and not only these 35 cents piece but all
our lifelong we shall spend no money to pay
the boatman. Why don’t you yourself save the
money and come to the opposite bank with
me ? We go to the opposite bank uninjured,,
unharmed through your advice and teaching.
You yourself also can go to the opposite shore.”
The sage asked what piece of advice was it
that saved their money. The maid reminded
him of the text he once gave. That God’s
name was a ship that carried us across the
ocean of this world. He said, all right, all
right, he too must practise it. There were other
companions. There was a long, long rope. He
fastened that rope to his waist and asked his
companions to keep the remaining part of the
rope to themselves, and said he would jump
into the river, he would launch into the river
and take the name of God and would venture
to cross the river on faith ; but if they saw
that he was being drowned, they should drag
him back. The sage jumped into the river,
went on for a few steps and was found to be
drowning. They drew him out. So just mark.

140 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

This kind of faith that that Pandit had, this
faith which gives credence to it, is not the
saving principle. This is the crookedness in
your hearts. When you begin to chant OM or
when you begin to take the name of God,
and say “ I am health, health, health ” there in
your heart of hearts you tremble, in you hearts
you have that little quaking, quivering if. “ If
I sink, draw me out ” you have that small
faltering if. In your mind no conviction, no
faith, no hypothetical cases here. This is a
fact that all differences, all the circumstances
in this world are my creation, my doing, nothing
.•else. You are the Divinity, the Lord , of lords
you are; feel that. Realize it this moment.
Have firm, unswerving faith, realize knowledge,
practical knowledge. You will see that by
reading this paper everyday in the way pointed
•out to-night, all your little ifs, that bind you,
will be driven out. The small if will be got
-rid of by keeping yourself constantly in touch
with your Divinity. Read this paper twice
-every day, if not five times, and all your little
ifs will be driven out.

Rama stops the lecture now and those of

AIDS TO REALIZATION OR PRANAYAMA 141

you who want to haye a little social talk with
Rama may do so after this seat is left. Will
leave this seat after chanting OM, OM, OM.

One word more. Those of you who have
not heard these lectures, and so have not been
able to follow his lecture, will find all this
Vedantic philosophy brought out in most
philosophical way in a *book form. The whole
of the Vedantic philosophy will be laid before
you. And one word more, all the doubts that
you entertain on Vedantic philosophy and all
the misgivings you have, have been once the
doubts and misgivings of Rama himself. Your
experiences and your doubts are the doubts of
Rama himself. Rama saw his way through
these, and you are assured that all our doubts
are perverted ignorance. AH these doubts are
evanescent, they can evaporate in a second.
If any of you wish to have a special talk with
Rama on your doubts, you can. Rama is not
going to leave this place too soon.

Again it may be .said that if you want to
get rid of misery, if you want to secure perfect

*N. B. It is a pity that Rama did not live to compile the book
he so anticipated.

.142 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

A

happiness, if you want to regain your salvation,
if you want to attain realization, you must
realize Vedanta. There is no other way. All
your creeds, all your dogmas, all your other
realizations, simply lead to the Vedant^. They
simply lead to the Absolute Truth. There are
hopeful signs, very good signs that most of
the recently started cults in America are
incorporating and imbibing the Vedanta. They
are taking it in. They need not acknowledge
their debt . to it. Christian Science, New
Thought, Spiritualism or Divine Science, etc.,
these people who are taking us, these people
are Divinity ; that is a great hopeful sign for
America. But Rama tells you that if you
want to realize the truth in its full glory and
in its whole beauty, there is the Vedanta. You
might give it any name you please, but here in
the Hindu Scriptures they put it in the boldest,
most pronounced language. This is the highest
truth that you are the Divinity,, the Lord of
lords. Feel that, realize that, and nothing can
injure you, you are the Lord of lords. The
world is my idea, I am the Lord of lords.
There is the truth. If you are not accustomed

AIDS TO REALIZATION OR PRANAYAMA 143

to hear such things, be not afraid. What if
your parents did not believe in that ? Your
parents did their best, you ought to do your
best. Your salvation is not your parents’
business. Your salvation is your own business.
Do not consider the Vedanta is foreign to you.
No, it is natural to you. Is your own Atman
foreign to you? The Vedanta simply tells
you about your own Atman and Self. It would
be foreign, if your own soul were foreign to you.
All pain— bodily, mental, moral and spiritual —
is stopped immediately by realizing the
Vedanta, and realization is not a hard business.

THE WAY TO THE REALIZATION
OF SELF

To the Reader • Each sentence and word concerning
t^ie Self should he meditated and earnestly dwelt upon to
such a degree that the mind should get steeped in the real
Self— nay, lost in It. Beginners may centre their energy in
the solar plexus while meditating upon OM.

In Vedantic Concentration of mind the
chief point is that we have to realize our real
, Self to be the Sun of suns, the Light of
lights. Just throw yourself into this state,
above the body, above the mind, and dehyp-
notize yourself into the Light of lights, into
the Sun of suns, and you will see the whole
world unfolded before you in a panorama, or
melted down as a cloud. Everything will
come about in a most submissive way before
you.

If not inconvenient, get up early in the

THE WAY TO THE REALIZATION OF SELF 145

morning and face the rising Sun while it is
yet below the horizon. Look at the aura of
the Sun, and that fair, bright, most welcome
view animates the mind and uplifts it to some ■
extent ; and when the mind gets some
exaltation or is elevated to a certain height,
it becomes very easy to make it 'soar as
high as you please, to make it ascend the
highest summits of the delectable mountains,
so to say.

, On the playground, in India, we place
an instrument called gulli, which is thick
at the middle and sharply pointed at the
ends, with both ends resting above the
ground, and we strike one end With a bat
and the gulli rises at once in the air a little ;
then we deal it a very hard blow with the bat
and it goes flying right into the air to a great
distance. There are two processes in this
game. The first is to raise it and the second
is to make it fly into the air. If the mind is
to be brought into Divine communion, first of
■all it is to be raised just a little, and the
second process is to shoot it far off . into the
spiritual atmosphere.

146 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Cheerful atmosphere, fair landscapes, and
fairy scenes, sometimes go a great way in
giving to the mind its first rise — to elevate it
in the primary stages; and after that it be-
comes easy enough for us to make the mind
run along, go on and on and on until it loses
all body-consciousness and is God and nothing
but God. To give the mind the first lift and
to impart to it the elementary exaltation,
the natural inspiration imparted by favour-'
able time and place may be utilized. Near
dawn, the songs of birds, the fragrant air, and
the most fascinating and beautiful colours
seen in the Eastern horizon give to the mind
the original rise.

How to make the mind rise higher into
the celestial regions — to make the soul soar
away up to the throne of God ! When the
benign light of ,the rising or setting Sun is
falling upon the translucent lids of half-closed
eyes we begin humming the syllable OM ;
we sing in the language of feeling.

The meaning of the syllable OM is differ*
ent with different persons. Everybody in
his own stage of spiritual development has

THE WAY TO THE REALIZATION OF SELF 147

to give it the meaning which suits him
best There are some people who take this
syllable OM to stand for the Sun of suns* and
they look at the rising orb just in the same
way as women look at their looking-glasses.
In India women wear looking-glasses on their
thumbs. They have big gold ring-like frames
containing looking-glasses. There is, in fact,
nothing so dear to a woman as a looking-glass.
When she looks into it she sees her face, as •
it were, outside herself, but she knows and
feels her face to be with her. She sees some-
thing outside but she is convinced of the
thing being herself. So does a Vedantin
look at the Sun as if it were outside, but he
gets convinced and feels that the real Sun is
his own Self, that the outward, material Sun
is simply his image, his reflection and his
shadow.

A Vedantin looks upon the Sun as related
to himself just in the same way as the Moon
is related to the Sun. The Moon appears to
shine by herself, but in reality, from the
scientific stand-point, she borrows all he
lustre from the Sun. So the Vedantin feels

I

148 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

and realizes that the Sun which is declaring
his splendour as if it belonged to him, in
reality borrows all that from my real Self and
owes all his grandeur and glory to me.

The earth revolves, but we think the
Sun is revolving. When we learn Astronomy
we know better and we are not deceived any
longer, and we are sure that it is not the Sun
that revolves, but the earth’s motion is as-
cribed to the Sun. Similarly the Vedantin,
when looking at the rising orf), feels and
realizes that the grandeur, glory^ and power
that seem to belong to the glorious Sun are,
by mistake, ascribed to the Sun. In reality
it is mine, mine, mine !

The sun in the material world is symbol
of light, that is to say, knowledge. The Sun
is a symbol of power. It makes all the
placets revolve. It is a symbol of existence,
life : all life owes its origin to or is indebted
to. the Sun. The Sun is a symbol of
beauty ; it attracts the earth and everything
— so dazzling. Now the Sun represents
knowledge,' light, life, power, existence,
beauty, attractiveness. All these attributes

THE WAY TO THE REALIZATION OF SELF 149

Vedantin realizes to be bis own. All these
attributes a Vedantin feels to be “mine”\ nay
“Me or These attributes and all this power,
light, life, etc., are seen outside myself ', in
the same way as the fairy face of a lady is
seen in the looking-glass outside herself. As a
matter of fact, in reality, I am light, life,
knowledge, power, l attractiveness and every-
thing.

To realize this idea and dehypnotize into
the real Self, , a beginner gets a great help
from the syllable OM. While chanting the
syllable OM to the Vedantin the meaning
attached to it is : — / am the Light of lights ;
I am the Sun ; I am the real Sun, the apparent
Sun is my symbol only. 1 am the Sun before
whom all the planets and all the bodies revolve .
For My sake all heavenly as well as human
bodies undergo their movements and do every-
thing. I am immovable and eternal, the same
yesterday, to-day and for ever. Before Me does
this whole globe, this whole Universe unfold
itself. It goes on turning round and round to
bring out before Me all her parts — to show
Me everything that is hers. The earth revolves

150

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

upon her axis to lay open before Me all her
sides; the U niverse does all sorts of things for
Me ; the Sun sheds lustre for My sake; the Moon
shines for My sake, before Me. At My com-
mandment, on account of My presence, ; all
the phenomena in this world take place. Just
as it is the very presence of the Sun that
makes trees grow, the muscles of animals
move, or men think, so it is My presence that
awakens all. It is Mine — the real Spirit’s —
the real God’s — presence that makes every-
thing in this world come to pass. All these
bodies — heavenly — or human — all sorts of
objects, all these creatures, together with
their spirits and gods, owe their existence to
Me ; they live in Me, the Sun of suns !

The Light of lights I am. In dreams we
see an object not by the light of the lamp,
nor by the light of the Moon or the Sun ; and
yet we see it, and know that without light
we could not see it. In what light, then, do
we see it ? It is the light of my real Self ;
it is the light of Atman ; it is my light that
makes everything visible in a dream. If
I see in' a dream a diamond, it is perceived by

THE WAY TO THE REALIZATION OF SELF 151

My light. Even the lustre of the diamond
is simply a ripple in the sea of My light.
If in a dream I see the Moon, she together
with her light is likewise a wave in My
splendour. If I see the Sun in a dream, it
with all its light, is simply like an eddy in
the ocean of My glory. So it is in the wake-
ful state ; the Sun, the Moon, the stars and
everything are simply waves in the ocean of
My light. I am the Light of lights. I am
the Light of the world. In the ocean of my
presence, every object — the Sun, the stars,
the gods— all behave like rings and ripples.

“ I raised the Sun front out the sea ;

The Moon began her changeful course
with Me.”

I am the Monarch of monarchs. It is I
that appear as all the kings in this world.
It is I that appear as all the beautiful flowers
in different gardens. It is I that smile with
' the bewitching faces of all the fairies. It is
I that make the muscles of all the warriors
move. In Me does the whole world live,
move and hpve its being. Everywhere it is
My will that is being done. It is My

152 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

kingdom that is reigning supreme every-
where. I am manifest everywhere, I feed
every being from the minutest animalcule to-
the biggest Sun. I administer to every being
his daily bread. I . made the Earth revolve-
round the Sun ; I was there before the world
began.

Evil thoughts and worldly desires are
things concerning the false body and the false
mind, and are things of the . darkness. In My
presence they have no right to make their
appearance. I am the Supreme Ether in
which are afloat all the Universe and all
material ethers. Like light I permeate and
pervade every atom and every object. I am
the lowest ; I am the highest. There is no-
lowest, no Highest, with Me. Wherever
human eyes fall, there I aril. I am the spec-
tator, I am the showman, I am the performer.
In Jesus I appeared. In Mohammad I re-
vealed myself. The most famous people in
the world I am, and most disreputable, igno-
minious, the most fallen I am. Iam the All,
the All. Whatever be your object of desire,
that I am. Oh, how beautiful Iam! I shine

THE WAY TO THE REALIZATION OF SELF 153;

. Mf

fitrihe lightning ; I roar in the thunder ; I
flutter in leaves ; I hiss in winds ; I roll in the
surging seas. The friends I am ; the foes I
am; To Me no friends, no foes. Away, ye
thoughts, ye desires which concern the tran-
sient, evanescent fame or riches of this world.
Whatever be the state of this body, it
concerns Me not ; all bodies are mine. Frank-
lin I was ; Newton I have been ; Lord Kelvin
I am ; mighty Rama and lovely Krishna I am.
It is I that worked in the brain of Kant. It
is I that inspired the hearts of Buddha and;
illustrious Shankar. It is I that lend light
to all Shakespeares and Platos. They come
unto Me, the Fountainhead, and they are
filled, get lustre and shine. All these worldly
ambitions bind and drag down the real Man.
Away, ye gay landscapes >nd gardens of
roses. All of you are in Me ; not one of you.
can contain Me. In Me is this Universe. In
Me is everything. What can contain Me ? How
can I be limited ? The world, the world is in
Me ; the Universe, the universe is in Me ! And
still I am in each and all. I am- in the minds,
and in the thoughts of each, and all. I am in

154

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

the throbbing breast of the lover ; I am in
the laughing eyes of the proud beloved. I
pulsate in the nerves of each and all. I am
in you, I am in you ! Nay there can be no
you and I, no difference. I AM I !

I am the unseen Spirit which informs
All subtle essences 1 I flame in fire.

I shine in Sun and Moon, planets and stars I
I blow with the winds, roll with the waves !

1 am the man and woman, youth and maid !

The babe new-born, the withered ancient, propped
Upon his staff ! I am whatever is —

The black bee and the tiger and the fish.

The green bird with red eyes, the tree, the grass,
The cloud that hath the lightning in its womb-
The seasons and the seas ! In Me they are.

In Me begin and end.

Upanishad (Sir Edwin Arnold, translator).

I hide in the solar glory.

I am dumb in the pealing songs,

I rest on the pitch of the torrent.
In slumber I am strong.

I wrote the past in characters
Of rock and fire the scroll,

The building in the coral sea.

The planting of the coal.

THE WAY TO THE REALIZATION OF SELF 155

Time and thought were My surveyors,

They laid their courses well.

They poured the sea, and baked the layers
Of granite, marl and shell — Emerson •

i

I am the mote in the sunbeam, and I am the burning
Sun,

“Rest here !” I whisper the atom, I call to the orb,
“Roll on/'

I am the blush of the 'morning, and I am the evening
breeze ;

I am the leaf's low murmur, the swell of the terrible
seas.

1 am the net, the fowler, the bird and its frightened
cry;

The mirror, the form reflected, the sound and its
echo I ;

The lover*s passionate pleading, * the maidens whis-
pered fear ;

The warrior, the blade that smites him, his mother s
heart-wrung tear.

I am intoxication, grapes, wine-press, and musk and
wine,

The guest, -the host, the traveller, the goblet of crys-
tal fine.

1 am the breath of the flute, I am the mind of man;

-Gold’s glitter, the light of the diamond, the sea pearl's
lustre wan.

156

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

The rose, her poet nightingale, the songs from the
throat that rise ;

The flint, the sparks, the taper, the moth that about
it flies.

I am both good and evil, the deed and the deed’s intent ;

Temptation, victim, sinner, crime, pardon and punish-
ment.

I am what was, is, will be— Creation’s ascent and fall ;

The link, the chain of existence ; beginning and end of all-

Lo ! the trees of the wood are my next of kin,

And the rocks alive with what beats in Me ;

The clay is My flesh, and the fox My skin,

I am fierce with the gadfly, and sweet with the bee. ,
The flower is naught but the bloom of My love.

And the waters run down in the tune I dream.

The Sun is my flower uphung above,

I flash with the lightning, with falcon’s scream,

I cannot die though forever death
Weave back and fro in the warp of Me,

I was never born, yet My births of breath
Are as many as waves on the sleepless Sea.

My breath doth make the flowers fragrant,

My eyebeams cause the Sun’s bright light.

The sunset mirrors My cheek’s rose blushes.

My aching love holds stars so tight.

Sweet streams and rivers My veins and arteries,

My beauteous hair the fresh green trees.

THE WAY TO THE REALIZATION OF SELF 157

What giant strength ! My bones are mountains,
G, joy ! the fairy world My bride.

Nay, talk no difference, wonder of wonders,
Myself the bridegroom, I the bride.

Roll on, ye suns and stars, roll on
Ye motes in dazzling Light of lights.
In Me, the Sun of suns, roll on-
O, orbs and globes mere eddies’ waves,
In Me the surging oceans wide
Do rise and fall, vibrate, roll on.

0 worlds, my planets, spindle, turn.
Expose Me all your parts and sides,
And dancing bask in light of life.

Do suns and'stars or earths and seas
Revolve, the shadows of My dream ?

1 move, I turn, I come, I go.

The motion, moved and mover I-
No rest, no motion mine or thine.

No words can ever Me describe.

Twinkle, twinkle, little stars,
Twinkling, winking, beckon call me.
Answer, first, O lovely stars,
Whither do you sign and call me ?
I'm the sparkle in your eyes.

I’m the life that in you lies.

158

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

“Break, break, break

At the foot of thy crags, O sea !”

Break, break, break

At my feet, O world that be.

O suns and storms, O earthquakes, wars.

Hail, welcome, come, try all your force on Me !
Ye nice torpedoes, fire ! My playthings, crack I
O shooting stars. My arrows, fly !

You burning fire! Can you consume ?

0 threatening one you flame from Me ;

You flaming sword, ye cannon-ball,

My energy headlong drives forth thee !

The body dissolved is cast to winds ;

Well doth Infinity Me enshrine !

All ears. My ears ; all eyes My eyes ;

All hands, My hands, all minds. My mind !

1 swallowed up Death, all difference I drank up ;
How sweet and strong a food I find !

No fear, no grief, no hankering pain !

All, all delight, or Sun or rain I

Ignorance, darkness, quaked and quivered,
Trembled, shivered, vanished for ever ;

My dazzling light did parch and scorch it,
Joy ineffable ! Hurrah ! Hurrah fl Hurrarh H!

—Rama

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-
REALIZATION

Golden Gate Hall , San Francisco , January 28 , 2903 .

[The following talks deal with the objections raised by the
leaders of the last lecture on“ The Way to Self- Realization^ which
was printed as a pamphlet in America. — Ed .]

We shall take up some of the objections
to the way of meditating pointed out in this
little book. Most of you have read this book
and we will take up some of the objections
raised.

Objection I. — The process of Realization
you tell us is imaginary ; it has to do more
with the imagination and training of thought
than with anything else.

To those who make this objection,
Vedanta replies : —

Dear Self, reflect a little ; dear Self, just
think a little. All this world and all the
bodies in this world are due to no cause other

.160 IN, WOODS OF GOD-REAZIZATION

than imagination. It is your imagination and
the current of thought in the wrong direction
which brings all your sorrows, your troubles,
your anxieties, your difficulties and your pain.
It is imagination and the current of ideas in
the wrong direction which binds you, and it is
imagination directed in the right channel
Which liberates you. Similia similibus curan-
iur ; like cures like.

The ladder from which you fell, so to
speak, is the ladder which will dead you up.
"You will have to retrace your steps by the
same road down which you fell to anxiety
and misery. The kind of imagination which
Vedanta recommends to you for liberation is
just opposite to the form of imagination which
brought you low. Thus you are sure to be
cured by the process contmra contraribus
curanta ; the contrary cures the contrary.
Vedanta proves that all this world is nothing
else but your own ideas, nothing else but
your onwn imagination and your own thought.
Now, purify this thought, elevate this thought,
direct it aright, and you become the Light
of lights, the All throughout the Universe.

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION 161

A man suffers from diarrhoea, and the
Doctor gives him a purgative and he is
cured. The diarrhoea made him go to the
bath-room over and over again. Now a
purgative taken willingly acts the same way,
but there is a world of difference between
the two. A purgative is a remedy while
diarrhoea is a disease, and while both work in
the same way there is a world of difference
between them. Worldly thought enslaves
you, it is a disease, it binds you and keeps
you at the mercy of all sorts of circumstances;
every wind and storm can upset you:
The diarrhoea of thought is human idea.
Take up the purgative which Vedanta fur-.,
dishes. This is also thought to be a kind of
imagination. So is ail the ' thought of the
world, but worldly thoughts and human ideas,
are a diarrhoea, and the kind of imagination:
or thought advocated by Vedanta is a purga-
tive. Take up this purgative and you will be 5
cured of your malady, your disease, you will be
relieved of all suffering, anxiety, and trouble.

In East India people do not wash their
hands with soap but with ashes. Ashes

162 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION .

are one kind of dirt, one kind of earth,
and the soil which is polluting your hands
is also earth or dirt. Even here when the
ashes are applied ,to the hands, and the hands
are washed in water, they not only remove
the dirt from the hands, but are also removed
themselves.

Similarly, the kind of thought which
you will have to dwell upon, the kind of
imagination, according to the teachings of
Vedanta, is like ashes; it will wash you
clean of every impurity and every weakness,
it will raise you above the kind of imagina-
tion wich is inculcated in this.

" r V

A man dreams, and in his dreams all
sorts of, things appear. Those things in the
dream are mere ideas, mere thought, mere
imagination. Suppose he sees a lion, tiger,
or serpent in the dream. Do you know what
happens on such occasions ? When a man
sees a tiger, a lion, or a serpent, he is startled
at. once, and is awakened. The tiger is a
kind of nightmare and wakes you up, but
this tiger or lion in the dream, although a
creation of your : own thought, this ; object of

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION 163

your dream is a wonderful thought, a won-
derful imagination. It takes away all other
ideas in the dream, it takes away all other
dream objects. The fairy scenes, the beauti-
ful landscapes, the flowing rivers, the majestic
mountains of which you were dreaming have
all gone after the tiger or the lion is seen in
-the dream. Now the tiger or lion never eats
grass or stones, but the tiger of your dream
is a wonderful creation, for the tiger ate up
all the landscapes, the woods, the forests ;
all are gone, it has disturbed the dreaming
self, and at the same time has eaten itself
up, it is seen no more when you wake up.

Similarly, the kind of ideas or imagina-
tion inculcated in this book is like the tiger
in the dream. The whole world is a dream.
This tiger will rid you of all false imagina-
tion and ignorance, and will at the same
time rid you of its own self. It will take you
where all imagination stops, where all
language stops, it lands you into that indes-
cribable Reality. .W

Objection II. — If we are landed into this
state of Super- consciousness where all cons-

164 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

ciousness stops, where all thought ceases, is
not that a state of vacancy or emptiness, is
it not a state of senselessness ? What is the
use of taking all this trouble to enter into-
a state of such unconsciousness ? We don’t '’f
want it. 'j

To this objection Vedanta replies,
“Brother, nay, ,my own Self, just reflect, be t

not in a hurry. There is a whole world of
difference between this state of Realization
and the state of fainting or swooning. One
thing, is common to both, all thought stops
in both. In a swoon there is no thought, and j

in the state of trance or Realization there is j

no thought, yet there is a world of difference j

between them.” \

In the swoon, the mind stopped thinking !

and this stopping of the thinking caused
excess of inactivity, and through this excess !

of inactivity the swoon was produced. In 1

the swoon thought stops through lack of I

activity, , the swoon resembles death, but the
state of trance or the state of Realization is all
Energy, all Power, all Knowledge, all Bliss.

You know the absence of light is called

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION 165

darkness. If we enter a room where there
is very little light, we are able to see nothing.
Super-abundance of light is practically dark-
ness also for the eyes of man. Could you
see into the dazzling Sun at noon? If the
light of the Sun were more excessive 31 than
what it is to-day, if it were multiplied ten
■times, no man could ever see. Science
tells us of the phenomena of the polarization
of light. Where two rays of light are in
opposite directions, the eyes of man cannot
see ; there is darkness. Excess of light is
also darkness for the eyes of man, and the
want or lack of light is also darkness for the
eyes of man. Darkness caused by lack of
light is one thing, and darkness caused by
excess of light is another thing.

Similarly, stopping thought by the state
of Realization is the opposite to the stopping
of thought in a swoon or deep sleep. We
mark the difference in the after effects of
the two.

One man is suffering from epilepsy, that
person when he received the shocks of
epilepsy is left enfeebled, weakened, undone,

166 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

lost: but when suffering from that shock he
was senseless.

“ Another man enters into this state of
Realization, or concentration, and all his-
mental activity has, as it were, stopped for
the time, and the stopping of thought in this
state is similar to the stopping of thought in
the case of the man attacked by epilepsy,
but mark the difference. The man in
epilepsy is weakened, enfeebled, undone
afterwards, while the man after descending
from those delectable mountains of the state
of Realization, after leaving that state of
ecstasy, is full of energy, full of strength,
full of bliss and full of knowledge, he
can heal and strengthen others, he can
raise and elevate others, and is far, far from
being himself enfeebled or weakened. So
you see that the stopping of thought in
Vedantic Realization is quite the other
extreme to the stopping of thought in a
swoon or fainting condition.

Objection III. — We say we want life,
we want life, we don’t want inactivity.

Vedanta says, “Be not inactive, go oh

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION 167

desiring, do not stop.” Truth is very para-
doxical; both sides must be taken into con-
sideration. Those who think that Vedanta
teaches pessimism are mistaken. Vedanta
teaches you the right way of conducting
yourself, in order to keep the whole world
under your control.

We will take up the question of Desire,

Vedanta does not mean that you shall
live a life of inactivity, never; always a
life of activity. One’s desires according
to Vedanta are all right, but we must
make the right use of them. What is desire ?
Desire is nothing else but .Love. Usually
the word ‘love’ means intense desire Lot an
object. If love is intense desire for an
object, then all desire is nothing else hut love,
and they say that God is love , therefore all
desires are God. That being true, how
happy is the man who realizes his own life
to be one with all desire and then feels that
he himself, his own true Atman, is contained
in the. whole world in the form of desire
and is governing and ruling it. ; How happy,
does that man become who realizes his

168 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

unity with the all-ruling Force of desire, who
feels that “I am the Source of all desire;”
“All desire is due to Me,” the Father, the
Origin, the Fountain-head, the Spirit of all
■desire in this world, that am I; thus I rule
the whole world by the reins of desire. The

reins are in My hands, I am He who holds

these reins and rules %?se bodies. All

hatred, all animosity stops the very moment
you reach that point. The desires of friends
•or foes are My desires. I am the Infinite
Power which governs or rules those desires.
The yearnings and cravings of this person or
that are Mine. O happy I, the true Atman,
the Governor of the whole Universe.

People make a wrong use of de-
sires; they turn things topsy-turvy. If

desire is love and Love is God* Vedanta
requires you to realize that you are all Desire;
but do not make a wrong use of it, do not
make a mistake by calling one desire yours
and all other desires some one else’s. Desires
are pernicious when one works against
another. All desires are like waves, ripples,
eddies in the one ocean of Love. The whole

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION. 169

«universe is made up of one Infinite Ocean of
Love, what you might call Love. The stars
•are held together by Gravitation, Gravita-
tion is attraction, and that is love, All
-chemical combinations take place through,
the force of chemical affinity. That is love
between atom and atom. Love between atom
and atom is ca]|0d affinity. Love between
one planet and another is called Gravitation.
Love between molecules is called affinity.
This book is held together by the force of
•cohesion. Cohesion is Love.

The whole world is like the waves and
.ripples in one great Ocean of Love, and
Science has shown, Lord Kelvin and others
have shown that “all matter is nothing else
hut force.” Now force in this world is mani-
fested chiefly , as Gravitation, Cohesion,
"Chemical Affinity, Electricity, Magnetism,
Light, Heat, etc.

Magnetism and Electricity, what is there
vin them ? You find attraction. Heat seems to
-disunite, apparently, seems to separate par-
ticles, but Science proves by looking at matter
■from anothor stand-point, that which i$

170 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

dissolution or separation from one stand-point,,
is love and attraction from another stand-
point.

The whole world is simply the eddies-
and ripples in the Ocean of Force. That
power, that energy or force is, according to*
Vedanta, your real Self, the same you are.
Realize that. That same power and energy or
force is called Love.

The theory propounded by Darwin and'
other evolutionists, as based upon struggle
for existence, is supplemented or compli-
mented by thinkers like Drummond; they
show that Evolution takes place not only
through Struggle and war, but mostly through^
love, character and attraction.

All desire is love, and love is God, anck
that God, you are. Realize your oneness with’
that and you stand above everything. People
look upon these eddies or rings of desire as
separate from the ocean in which these
eddies and rings are.

For instance, here is a lake and we say,.
“Come, child, look, here is a beautiful calms
lake,” After a while there comes a storm;

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION 171

and on the smooth, unruffled surface of the
lake there sre some breakers, ripples, waves,
and you say, “Child, see, here are ripples,
eddies, breakers,” and we forget the calm
water, but think only of the new forms upon
the lake. Even now when the lake has those
eddies, those breakers, even now the lake is
water and the breakers are the same water as
the lake.

The water was there when the surface of
the lake was smooth, and the water is there
now when the surface of the lake is ruffled or
disturbed, but new forms, rings etc. have
made their appearance and we do not tell the
child to come and see the water, but we call
the child’s attention to the eddies and
breakers. Here the form of the eddies and
the breakers has cast the water into the shade.
Rings or ripples have covered the lake, the
idea of ripples overshadows the idea of water
dir lake. Similarly in the case of men, the
desires are a kind of ripple or eddy, a merte
form ; this form of desire overshadows the
idea of Reality. The Reality is overpowered
by the form. Vedanta requires you to

172 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

'Consider the form, not to ignore it, hut while
considering the form of the ripple or eddy,
do not ignore the Reality which underlies it.
Thus when some one retaliates, you are
insulted, you get mortally offended. Rea-
lize the law. The law is that you have
made your own mind out of harmony with
nature, and that man comes and shows you
that you are out of harmony with nature.
•Cure yourself and that man will not insult
you, That is the law. Religionists ought to
take it up. The very moment you are in a
•state of despair or at war with nature, the
whole world will stand up against you.

Cultivate peace of mind, fill your mind
with pure thoughts and nobody can set him-
self against you. That is the law. Vedanta
says, ‘Dp not make a wrong use of the
desires of others or of your own desires.’
If you keep your balance, all those desires
which are manifesting themselves in your
mind will be overcome, will most certainly
disappear. If you take the right attitude
towards them, then will be realized in a most
marvellous way in due time. It is by keep-

/

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION. 173

ing the wrong attitude toward your own
desires that you pervert matters and bring
about undesirable circumstances.

Make a right use of these desires which
appear in your mind. How is that to be done?
Let us illustrate. Here is a man riding on
horseback to some distant place. The horse
seems to be fatigued, the man must feed
the horse, but then the. hunger or fatigue of
the horse he does not attribute to himself. He
knows that the horse is hungry and fatigued
and he will attend to his needs, but he will not
attribute to himself his fatigue. He attends
to the horse but he dose not get himself in a
rattled, disturbed or unhappy condition.

A man of Realization or a true Vedantist
looks upon this body, just as the horseman
looks upon his horse. If the body is fatigued,
if the stomach requires food or drink, he
Will give to the body the required food and
drink, if it be available, but he will at the
same time keep himself above hunger and
thirst. It seems a strange idea, but when you
begin to practise it, you will realize it in no-
time; it is practical.

, V .

Y 1 :

374

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Hunger and thirst are of the body and
are felt by the mind but he himself, the true
Self, is not pained or disturbed. He who
realizes his own Divinity, which is God, is
not pained or disturbed by the fatigue,
hunger or thirst of the body, The fatigue
and hunger of the horse do not disturb the
rider; they are felt, but are no cause of
pain. Similarly environments and circums-
tances of the body require certain objects.
Those objects are needed by the mind and
intellect in order to perform their necessary
functions, and are like desires. These
Meshes of the mind are seen by a Vedantin,
but even while the mind is observing these
desires, a man of Realization keeps his head
above water, he is above desire. No desire
becomes the cause of pain to him, Just as a
bird when sitting upon the twig of a tree
keeps perched there for some time, the twig
of the tree moves this way and that, but the
bird minds it not, the bird is all right, he
•knows that even if the twig breaks and
falls to the ground, he has his wings. He is,
as it were, always on his wings. He is sitting

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION 175

■on the twig but is yet above it. Apparently
he is dependent upon the twig, yet in reality
he is above the twig. Similarly, Vedantins
may appear to possess the desires of the
■ordinary man, yet they are above them.
When a Vedantin loses an object of desire, he
cannot be grieved or sorry. People possessed
of all sorts of desires, sigh and weep when an
object of desire leaves them, because they are
dependent upon it. The Vedantin does not
depend upon it.

Here is a pencil, it belongs to a person.
If it be lost, are you sorry? No. You may
search for it, but if it be not found, it matters
not to you. Suppose however that you lose
•$ 5,000. Oh, that will break your heart.
You search for the pencil, and you also search
for the $ 5,000 which is lost, but there is a
world of difference in the manner of search.
You search for your $ 5,000, with a broken
heart, but you do not search for the lost
pencil with a broken heart. To the Vedantin
the loss of the $ 5,000 is as the loss of the
pencil. We will illustrate the point by a
yt°ry.

176

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

In India a sage was passing through the
streets of a large city. A lady approached
him and asked .him to go with her to her
house. She beseeched him to be kind enough
to visit her home. He went with her and
when at home she brought the sage a cup of
milk. Now this milk was boiling in a pot
and there was a good deal of cream gathered
on the top of the pot, and when the milk was
poured into the cup, all the cream fell into
the cup. In India women do not like to part
with cream, and so it worried her, disturbed
her very much to see that nice cream fall
into the cup, and she exclaimed, “0 dear me,
deaf me.” She added sugar to the milk and
then handed the beautiful cup full of ' milk to
the sage. He took it from her, placed it on
a table and began to talk about something.
The lady thought he did not drink the milk
because it was too hot. Atlast he was ready
to leave the lady’s house, and she said,
“Oh sir, will you hot do me the favour of
drinking this milk?” Now in India ladies
are always addressed as goddesses and the
monk replied, “Goddess, it is not worthy of

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION 177

feeing touched by a monk.” She said, “Why, •
what is the reason?” He replied, “When you :
poured the milk, you added sugar and cream,
you added, something more still, you added
‘‘Dear me”, and milk to which “Dear me” has
feeen added I will not have. She Was abashed .
at the answer, and the sage left the house.

, Giving milk to the sage was alright, but
to add “Dear me” was wrong. So Vedanta
•says, Do work, entertain desires, but when
you are doing something, why should your
heart break ? Do not add that. Never, never
add that to the act. Do the thing, but do it
unattended as it were; do not lose your
balance; adjust yourself to circumstances and
you- will see that when you do thing in the
eight spirit, all your works will be crowned
with success, most marvellously and wonder-
fully. ' 1 '

Now, to adjust your position, how to
remain in equilibrium ? The great difficulty
with people is that , all their relations and
-connections are unscientific, impure, and
loose. Vedanta says that your relations and
•connections ought to be an aid to you and not

178 , IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

an ^obstacle. Every thing you meet in this
world should be a stepping stone instead of as
stumbling block. Convert your stumbling,
block into a stepping stone.

You know that if this be a dark room and
we enter it, we see nothing at. first, but when
we keep looking in the dark, all the objects-
in the dark room will be seen; by keeping
an intent watch, all the objects will become
visible.

Vedanta says that all these connections
which are blinding you, which are keeping
you from your true Reality or God, you
should see through them, observe them,,
watch them intently, and they will become
transparent ; you will be able to look through
them and be able to see Divinity beyond
them. It will seem strange at first, but by
and by it becomes practical. By adjusting
your position, by looking at things in the
right way, all relations, all our connections,
becomes as transparent as panes of glass;
they do not hinder our vision. Thus Vedanta
requires you to adjust your position, so 'that
everything becomes transparent, not an obs-

■ ■ ' INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION 179

truction ; nay, it is possible for you, if you
rightly understand Vedanta, if you compre-
hend its teaching, it is possible to convert
stones not only into transparent panes but ''
into lenses, into spectacles, aids to vision,
not obstructing but adding to vision. The
microscope helps, it is no drawback.

If one ton or more of fodder is carried on
the back of an elephant, the animal must bear
that weight, he has to carry that weight
with difficulty and by exerting strength.
Here is a ton or more of grass, fodder or hay
carried upon the back of an elephant and
this weight is a source of trouble and incon-
venience to the animal, but when the same
grass, hay or fodder is eaten by the elephant,
as he assimilates it and carries it as his own
body, does not that same burden become a
source of strength and power to the elephant ? <

Certainly.

So Vedanta tells you to carry all the bur-
dens of, the world on your shoulders. If you
carry them on your head, you will break your
neck under them; if you assimilate them, make ,
them your own, eat them up, so to speak.

\ -

180 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

realize them to be your own . Self, you will
move along rapidly, your progress will become
wonderful instead of being retarded.

When you realize Vedanta, you see, — O
wonder of wondeps ! — you see God. you eat
God, you drink God, and God lives in you.
When you realize God, you will see this.
' Your food will be converted into God. God’s
eyes protrude every .object. A Vedan tin’s
eyCs make God of everything. Every object
here is the Dear one. Divinity, God facing us
on every side, staring at us from every nook
and corner, the whole world is changed into
a paradise. Thus, Vedanta does not make
you unhappy by taking away your desires,
V but Vedanta makes you adjust these desires
_ an d makes them subservient to you; instead
of being tyrannized by them, it wants you to
become their master.

Here is a horse and one man catches hold
of the horse’s tail; the horse kiefs and rears
and runs fast, jumps, and drags him .on and
on. Is that a desirous or easy situation? This
is the way of the people of the world.
Desires are as horses, and they have hold

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION 181

of the tails of the horses and the horses (the ; }
desires) drag the people after them and place
them in a wretched, miserable situation.
Vedanta says, “Do not catch hold of the tail of
horse of desire; be the master, not the slave or
the subject, of the situation. You can master
the body when you realise your true Self.
When you realize the Divinity within, then
alone you can master and not otherwise.

There is still another objection : — Will
there not be re-action if we go on concen-
trating our mind, thought and energy in the
way pointed out in this book? Will it not
revert upon the brain, will it not weaken it?

No, No, Rama tells you from personal
experience that strength and strength alone
will come to you day after day ; no weakness,
but power, vigour, immense power will come
to you. A few words must be said as to the
method of practice.

5 In the morning or at any time, when
you begin to practise the methods pointed
out in this book, your mind will merge into a
state of divinity, ecstasy, super-consciousness.
When that state is reached, do not continue

: 182 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

' repeating OM. Stop; let that state remain
as long as it pleases ; gradually the worldly
or body-conciousness will come , up of itself.
Don’t force anything, don’t force the repeti-
tion of OM. When that state is reached, the
body-consciousness will come up readily. It
may be that many of you may be able to
remain in that state of super- consciousness
for half an hour, perhaps for one, two or three
hours or more; but to-morrow you will be
ilk. 1 able to keep up that state for a longer time.
Day after day the time will increase until in
this way gradually by slow degrees your
1 spiritual power will increase.

Rama does not advise those who are
beginners in this practice to devote more
than half an . hour to this. Rama advises that
they- should limit themselves to 20 or 25
• minutes of this practice, but those who have
engaged in this practice before will of them-
A selves increase the length of time which they
devote to this practice.

In general the rule is that the most
spiritually minded and those persons who ,
have already done something in this line of

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION 183

thought will realize more than those who are
beginners. The more you are interested and
intensified with this thought beforehand, the
more; you will like to remain in that state for
■.it longer period.

One thing- more *. when you begin to con*
{ -centrate the mind, and realize your God-
scon ciousness, some idea or ideas will spring
up before f your mind. At that time go on
chanting OM and at the same time take up this
thread of thought which makes its appearance
in your mind and finish it.

At the time when a man is chanting OM
and has the Holy Infinite around him, when
a man’s mind is determined to make spiritual
progress, if a worldly thought comes up, that
thought ought to be concluded in such a way
that it may, in future life, be a state of con-
fduct. Now pay attention to this, and whether
you have ever experienced these things or not,
ithey will come up, and these thoughts are
apt to oppose you, and Rama’s words will be
of benefit.

Suppose you begin to chant OM, and
-while chanting it, the thought of love or

184 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

hatred for some object comes up. There

the idea was that this thought should not
have intruded and obstructed your onwardl
flight. What shall you do with this thought ?
Take it up and eradicate it, root it out from-
your mind for ever. How ? This thought
will be rooted out by knowledge only. The-
thought of hatred enters, the mind, take it up,,
begin to realize and dissect it, find out its
true cause; you will alway s see that the true'
cause is ignorance, weakness, this Self attri-
buting the ‘I’ to the body, the idea of I aUi
the body etc. Ignorance of this kind is
always the cause of these intruding thoughts
entering while one is concentrating the
mind. In such cases, Rama says, Analyze
these f thoughts and through knowledge
eradicate them and continue chanting
OM. While chanting OM, makp strong reso-
lutions and firm determinations to withstand
all these thoughts in future, make firm
resolutions to overcome all these selfish
motives in future. These Strong determina-
ations and firm resolutions once made,
will build up your character and strengthen.

INFORMAL TALKS ON SELF-REALIZATION 18K

your moral sight ; your ethical power will be
of great aid to you in moving about in the-
world, in your worldly business.

Suppose about half an hour is spent in*
eradicating that idea, in strengthening and
-'overcoming that thought,' in chanting OM,.
and suppose all the time is taken up in over-
coming that thought or idea and there is no-
time to get into the state of super-concious-
ness, never mind. If the super- concious state
be not reached that day, never mind, it will
come some other day. If on that day one evil
thought has been overcome, your character
is strengthened ; if you are enabled to resist
and overcome temptation in this life, you have
a lovely character for the future and that
is enough in itself. Thus will your character
be formed, and thus will your spiritual powers
be enhanced day after day. As to your com
centration, let it come or not. Sometimes even
hankering after Realization or Truth is a draw-
back, a hindrance to achieving that state.

Some people say, ‘*0 sir, we want some
method of concentrating the mind, some
method of Realization. We don’t want lee*

386 IN WOODS OF GOD-REAL IZATIQN

tures, we don’t want reading matter.” These
people are mistaken. What is the obstruc-
tion which clouds your way, which keeps you
•away from this Divinity, this God- conscious-
ness, Realiztion ? It is your ignorance, and
what is , ignorance? Doubts, misgivings,
worldly notions, false ideas, these are igno-
rance. False ideas, worldly thoughts, evil
propensities are ignorance. These are the
clouds which obstruct your progress. Lack
of faith is ignorance. One who doubts not
as to his oneness with God is always in a
trance. It is your doubts and misgivings
which keep your minds in a wandering condi-
tion, it is your doubts which lead you astray,.
A man who reads such literature, who inves-
tigates these matters, who studies, is by slow
•degrees overcoming all his doubts, conquering
all his misgivings ; that man when walking,

, talking, eating or drinking is in the same
•state as the ordinary man when sitting still,
with closed eyes, and concentrating. There
is more power in this ordinary state then in
most men in the extraordinary state.

OM! OM!! OM !!!

INFORMAL TALKS ( Continued )

'SOME OF THE OBSTACLES IN THE WAY
OF REALIZATION

Ques .— Does the Self, the doer of actions,
remain unaffected? Is the Self cognizant in
.any actions of persons ?

Ans. — No. The true Self, the real Atman,
is neither the doer nor the enjoyer according
to Vedanta. If it be the doer or enjoyer,
then it could not remain unaffected. The
-doer and agent tin you is the apparent self and
not the real Self, and this apparent self
again derives all its energy, all its life, from
the real Self.

This is a very knotty question, and if we
begin to enter into the details of the question?
it would take about three hours, so Rama will
.simply .give an illustration and then stop.

, . , • ’

188

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Suppose in an illusion you see a snake in,
a corner. You seem to see a snake, but when
you go to touch the snake, it is no more , a*
snake but simply a rope; thus the snake is-
located in the rope, as it were, but in reality
is not. Apparently the rope was the sup-
porter, the upholder of the snake, but in reality
the rope did never support nor uphold the-
snake, the rope gave no quarters to the snake.

Thus from the stand-point of illusion, it
is the rope, and the rope alone which is the-
' supporter and upholder of the snake, but
from the stand-point of reality, the rope was-
never a snake but always a rope and. the snake-
did not exist. Similarly, from the stand-point
of the intellect and the reasoning self, which
is in illusion yet, it is the true Self the
Atman, God, which supports and upholds all:
your actions, all your life, all your energies
and strength. From the stand-point of your
conception or worldly illusion, it is the Atman
only that supports and upholds everything,
but from the stand- point of reality, and Truth
itself, the Atman or the real Self was never -
the supporter, the upholder or the bearer of :

W-'.: r INFORMAL TALKS (CONTINUED) 1B9

£;/ - ' , ... " *

: : ^ny acts, anybody, or anything. Suffice it

^ to say that there are two different stand-

!f points. From one stand-point the true Atman

jlf does everytning, and from the other stan

! | pojnt the Atman is entirely free and never

t* :, -does anything.

Now we may take up some of the obs-
tacles in the way of Realization. We have
keen discussing this subject for some days , -

and to-day Rama will lay before you one of
the most dangerous obstacles in the way of
Self Realization. It is criticism; criticism S ;
from within and criticism from without. _ ■ •

We will take up criticism from without.
Somehow, or other most people have an
intense habit of criticizing others, and so long
as you have this habit of judging others or
•finding fault with others, or looking on the
dark side of others, you will find it very

■difficult to realize God. .

Here is a child. It Bas no thief m him, .
and if in the presence of the child a thief
enters, he can carry everything away, for the
child has no thief in him, and for the child
there is no thief outside ; and so when you ,

190 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

i ®

try to detect the thief outside, you put the
thief within you.

When you try to discover faults or blein*
ishes in others, you are inviting blame or
faults to yourselves. When you fire a gun
you shoot another body, but the gun will
recoil and you will also get a shock, the gun
will react against you. When you blame or
find fault with others, you will also get some
of the fault yourself, for this is the law. Not,
to find fault with others is not so much to-
spare others as to spare yourselves. You.
must rise above all this blaming, criticizing,
j fault-finding spirit.

It is very much easier to discover the
mote in your neighbour's eye than to detect
the beam in your own. * <

Remember it always that when sending;
out thoughts of jealousy and envy, of criti-
cism, of fault-finding, or- thoughts smacking
of jealousy and hatred, you are courting the
very same thoughts yourself. Whenever you
are discovering the mote in your brother’s
eye, you are putting the beam in your own.

In order to have mercy on yourself, you

INFORMAL TALKS (CONTINUED)

191

must give up this fault-finding and this de-
nouncing of others. Remember that for that
person such and such an act may be good and
at the same time that same act may e very
injurious to you. You may give up |he act
which you blame in him but you need not.
blame him for that act.

-Do you know why the habit of faul -
finding and criticism is universal? There-

is some good foundation for it.

Whv do people criticize others and' who-
are they who criticize the most? Weak,
persons, ignorant people are the ones wo-
criticize most; always. The reason of h
is that through the spirit of criticism they
want to protect themselves. It is the princi-
ple of self-defence and self preservation
appearing in the form of criticizing others.

One man sees another party doing some-
thing which if done by himself would have harm-
ed him ; so he begins to hate that act ; he ^

Becessarily hate that act, for if he does not
he cannot refrain from doing that same act,
he cannot remain unpolluted or unscourge y
that act. There was a possibility of contagion.

192 IN WOODS OF GOD-REAL IZflTION

by that act, so the person liable to catch
■contagion from his neighbour begins to criti-
cize others, and by that criticism he lies in
safety, he thinks that so long as he criticizes
•his brother he will keep himself free ; but then
this shows only the bright side of criticism,
and shows that criticism is indispensably
necessary at certain stages of our spiritual
progress.

The dark side of this spiritual progress
is that those weak persons make a mistake of
beginning to hate and despise the person on
account of the vicious acts of that person. ,
These mistakes you might blame and criticize,
these deeds or saying you might blame or
criticize, that vicious attitude of mind of your
neighbour you might criticize, but you have
, no right to begin to hate or despise the
person. There is an old saying ‘'Hate the sin
but not the sinner.”

How is it practical to hate the sin and
love the sinner ; is it practical ? Yes, it is
wery practical. It may not be for the people
“who .have not solved the problem in that way.

A little knowledge is all that is wanted.

INFORMAL TALKS (CONTINEUD) 193

Just mark, the act you hate in another,
the same act which if done by you would
have marred your course and retarded your
progress, may be right when done by another.
You may say sin is sin always. Where comes
the difference ?

If you begin to call particular acts sinful
and other particular acts virtuous, then you
make a mistake. No act is sinful or virtuous
by itself, just as the cipher or zero by , itself
has no value, but place the cipher to the right
hand side of a decimal point and it decreases
the value of the expression ; place the cipher
to the left hand side of a decimal point and' it
increases the value of the expression, but by
itself the zero or cipher has no values. Simi-
larly, no act by itself is virtuous qr vicious, l
The difficulty in hating sin and loving
the sinner lies in your mis-understanding the
nature of sin. Just as people begin to persor
nify God, when they begin to make much of :
the body, and of their property ; just as people
begin to have fetishes and personifications,,
the same ignorant tendency of the people
leads them to fetishing and objectifying and

194 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

magnifying particular acts, and they begin to
stamp certain acts as heinous and other acts
as virtuous. Remember, religion is a thing
of the heart and virtue is a thing of the heart,
so is sin. Sin and virtue have to do alto-
gether with your position and frame of mind.

It is not the body but the soul that is to be
reformed ; it is the mind that is to be
regenerated. You have to be born of the
spirit. Just as “Dust thou art, and to dust
thou must return was not spoken of the
. soul,” similarly, “You have to be born again
of the spirit, you have to be regenerated” is
not to be spoken of the body.

If, for example, a baby in your house
reformed; it is the mind that is to be
drinks milk from its mother’s breast, would it
at this your advanced age be right and good
for you to drink of that mother’s breast? No,
a grown up, a stalwart man should not live in
the house on the mother’s milk; he cannot live
on that, but the child does that. There you
see it is right for the child to live on that
milk, but not for you. For you it would be a
sin to do that. At a mature age to live upon

INFORMAL TALK (CONTINUED) 195

the milk of the mother is a sin, but for the child
it is no sin ; the child does that which is not
right for you to do, but does that make you
hate the child ? It is a sin if you do this- and
■consequently you hate the sir* but not the sinner.

For the child it is not a sin, for you it is
a sin, and then you hate what is a sin to you
and love the child. That particular act is a
sin from your stand- point but not from the
stand-point of the child. So remember always
with all sins in the world the same is the case.
Regard all those deeds and acts which if per-
formed by you would be harmful or sinful as
worst sins, despise and loathe such acts of the
world but hate not and despise not the doers
of those acts or deeds. You have no right to
misjudge them. ■

There was a great Persian author, 1 Sadi,
who was famous and whose works have been
translated by Emerson, in English. He writes
i$a>at when a boy, he was going to Mecca, the
holy land of Muhammad. It was the custom
that all the people in that company were
expected to get up at dead of night and pray.
One night Sadi and his father got up and

196 IN WOODS OP GOD-REALIZATION

prayed but some of the company did not.

They were sleeping, and Sadi pointed to them
and said complainingly to his father, “See,.

Iidw - worthless and lazy they are, none of
them woke up and prayed; ” and the father
replied sternly to the boy, “O Sadi, O dear
boy,* it were better for you to be asleep like
them and offer no prayer than to be up and
offer prayer and find fault with them and'
criticize them ; this is a worse sin than to say
prayers and not to worship God.”

If you have done something very chari- ^

table and very great, and your fellows have f;

not, if this great deed puffs you up and ypu
find fault with and criticize your neighbours,
have you gained in virtue, are you nearer to
God? No, no, you have simply exchanged
one vice for another kind of vice; your evil
deeds and acts given up were like so many C4
copper cent pieces which you exchanged for
silver dollars, the silver dollar is criticism,,
this fault-finding spirit. There you are the
same, you have one vice left. Originally you
had perhaps one hundred vices, but now you
&ave but one yip,; but that vice is equivalent |

INFORMAL TALKS (CONTINUED) , 197

to the other hundreds, so it does not bring you
any nearer to the true Renunciation.

If the world has not regarded this criti-
cizing and this censuring spirit as a heinous
sin, then the world is to blame ; but
experience proves that the man who does
something wrong but who has a loving heart,
the man whose deeds are not pious in the eyes
of the world but whose soul is tender, whose
mind is gentle, whose spirit is softened and
near to God, that man who is mild, that man
is nearer to the kingdom of Heaven than other
philosophers.

In the Bible the Pharisees were very
pious, their acts and deeds were very pious,
but those Phillistines lacked that tender, kind'
and loving spirit; these people had this cen-
suring, fault-finding spirit in them, which kept
them farther away from Christ than Mary
Magdalene, the woman who had to be stoned,
a, woman whose character was not the purest,
a woman who was not immaculate. This Mary
Magdalene had not in her this fault-finding,
this censuring, this blaming spirit, she had
that spirit of. love in her and she was nearer

198 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

to Truth, she was nearer, to the Kingdom of
Heaven than the Pharisees.

' In a poem written by Lee Hunt whose
Substance is as follows, this idea is brought
out so clearly.

There was a certain Sheik — . He saw
in one of his visions an angel writing the
names of people in a book. The Sheik asked,
“What are you doing, Sir ?” The angel rep-
lied, “I am writing out the names of those
who are the nearest and dearest and greatest
worshippers of God.” And then Sheik-
put down his head and was dejected and he
said, “I wish I had been a worshipper of God
as others have; I never pray, I never fast, I
never attend church, I shall be debarred. I
shall not be able to enter the Kingdom of
• Heaven. The angel said “Can’t help.” Then
Sheik — put another question to the angel
and said, “Will you ever put down a list of
those who love man and the whole world and
not God ?” The Sheik said, “Put down my
name as a Worshipper of man.” The angle dis-
appeared. The Sheik had a .second vision and
in the second vision the angel reappeared with

‘ \ - - :

INFORMAL TALKS (CONTINUED)

199 ,

the same book, and when he was turning over
the leaves of the book and had revised it all,
the Sheik inquired what he was doing and the
angel said he had revised it, he had written
down the worshippers of God in order of merit
and the Sheik asked if the angel would allow
him to look at the register, and lo ! to his great
surprise, the Sheik, who had given his name as*
a worshipper of man, found his name at the top
of the list of worshippers or devotees of God.

Is not this strange ? It is a fact.

If you worship man, or in other words, if
you look upon man not as man but as the
Divinity, if you approach every thing as God,,
as the Divinity, and then worship man, then
you worship God. . , ' . .

This criticizing, censuring, blaming, fault-
finding with men is not worshipping God, this
giving- away of presents is not worshipping:
God. In the Bible we are told that people-
told Jesus about the mother and father who
were waiting outside for him. Christ pointed
out to the multitude and said, “ Behold my
mother and my father, look upon the faces o£
them as upon your own.”

200 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

You see your own faults and hate not
yourself, and if you find faults in your friend,
try and keep yourself away from those faults,
but hate not. They are God, recognise the
Godhead in them.

Here is a man who is in the service of
the State, a man who does some official duties
of the State. He conceives the idea of lea-
ving all his state matters and goes to the
president and devotes all his time to him and
forgets his own duties. Will such a man be
kept in office ? No, never, he will be turned out.

To worship the President you must take
care of your own duties, you must worship, as
it were, those acts and deeds which are yours
as a servant of the State, Similarly, if you
make it a point to profess Religion in your
Church and in you rosaries, it is like going
to the President and beginning to rub his feet
and bowing down before him, but that alone
will not do.

To worship God in the best way is to
worship the Divinity and God in your friend.
When you have reached the point where you
begin to feel the Divinity in the friend, where

INFORMAL TALKS (CONTINUED) 201

their mistakes and errors do not keep you \
offended; their errors and mistakes do not
blind you to their Divinity; when that '
Divinity is in no way clouded, then you will
be in a position to realise the Divinity within
yourself.

Here is the whole difficulty put in a nut-
shell. Why do we not find Divinity in the
foe ? It is because we find fault with him.
People must cease to find fault, and see
Divinity all round. Believe in the Divinity
present in everybody, see the Infinity in
everybody. Very often we find people like
Nero, who are very religious, very moral jtp,
their youth, yet turn out to be very wicked.
Henry V of England was very wicked in his
boyhood, but he turned out to be very good in
his after-life. Thus, do not try to stereotype
the character of anybody, for some people
who are bad to-day may turn out to be very
good to-morrow. Sir W alter Scott was a dunce
when a boy, but he was a grand man in after
years. Sir Issac Newton got punished several
•times for not solving his sums in Arithemetic,
but look what he became in after years.

*

202 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Mary Magdalene was very wicked in her early
youth, but later on when she came in contact
with Christ, she was a very pious lady. She
became a disciple of Christ. The ordinary
sinner of to-day may turn out to be a saint,
to be the purest man after a while. Remem-
ber that if a man is doing wrong, you have no^
right to stand against him and hate him. See
the Divinity in him, see God in everything
and everywhere. If anybody # is thinking
evil thoughts of you, if other people find fault
-with you, are you to retaliate ? No, no.
...Never!

< When Socrates was in prison and before
he was given hemlock, the disciples gathered
around him and wanted him to leave the
prison and escape ; they wanted to bribe the
jailor and send him off. Socrates asked them
• whether bribery and breaking the laws of the
State were, lawful? They said, “Never.”'
(Then he asked, “If this be not lawful, why
ask me to escape, why ask me to do what is
unlawful ?” They said, “These people have
done wrong, they have not exercised the law
in the proper way, and so it will not be wrong

INFORMAL TALKS (CONTINUED) 203

to escape,” and he said, “Do you want me to
retaliate, to break the law, to do that which
is unlawful because others break the law ? If
I break the law, it can never correct the error,
it can never be consistent with the statement
made by you before, that law breaking is
never lawful. Two blacks never make a white*
If others criticize and blame, why should we
do so ? If we do as others do, we simply add to
the original wrong and matters are never
mended.”

How do criticism and evil thoughts injure
you ? They injure you only when you receive
them ; if you do not receive them, they will
not injure you. Just as if some one sends
you a letter and you receive it, it will be either
good or bad in its effect upon you. But if
you do not open the letter, if you do not
receive it, or if the letter is left in the Post
Office, it is -sent back to the sender. Similarly,
if other people send evil thoughts and you
do not receive them, then those evil thoughts
are sent back; but by receiving and accepting
these thoughts you pervert matters. Receive
not their criticism. How ? By asserting your

"204 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Divinity, by keeping in your centre, by living
in the Spirit, by realizing the Truth.

The following is a poem which was
written when the mind was no mind. The
substance of the poem is, to feel the presence
of God, to bring God close to you, when these
walls, these veils, these masks of criticism
-are no more in your body, are removed in
•others, and God is felt.

“So close, so close, my darling, close to me.”

By darling is meant God, the Infinite.

The same is it that makes the hair grow,
the same is it that makes the blood flow in the
veins, the same is it that gives you the power
to see or to speak. In your speech is God, in
your seeing is Divinity, in your act of hearing
is Divinity present, and that Real Self, that
Divinity of which you are so full is this same
Divinity appearing in your friend, your bro-
ther, your relations and your enemy. There
are no enemies when you feel Divinity. When
you shut your eyes to Divinity, then foes
come. Feel, feel that bliss which you seek;
that Divinity is so close, so near to you.

Rejoice, rejoice ! the objects of your

INFORMAL TALKS (CONTINUED)

203

desires, conciously or uneonciously, have God
for their object. Have not all desires happi-
ness for their object, and is not happiness
God ? O, realize.

“So close, so close, my darling, close to me !

Above, below, behind, before, you be.

Around me, without me, withm me, O me';

How deeply, immensely and intensely you be-

My baby, my lover. .

# , , « * « •

All ties broken, all other connections snapped*

all ideas of meum and teurn left behind, all
worldly connections put up in the background.

Divinity and reality so prominent ; n the
Self realized to such a degree that all selfish
ties are snapped ; this was the* realization*
So long as those ties remain most pronounced
for you, realization is not there. That is the
law. There is wondrous truth in the words
of Christ, “Sell all thou hast, give to the poor*,
and follow me,” but the people are afraid.

O modern civilization, you must recognize
and realize the truth in the doings and
sayings of Christ. Here is Vedanta telling
you in strong language that you cknnot simul-
taneously serve both God and Mammon. The
moments of realization are those when all

206

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

thoughts of wordly relations, worldly connec-
tions, worldly ties, worldly property, worldly
desires, worldly needs are all melted into God,
into Truth.

My baby. lover, father, sister, brother.

My husband, wife, my friend or foe ; my mother :
O sweet my Self* my breath, my day, my night,

, My joy, my wrong, my right.

' • ' • . Gay garments of love, thou changest aright.

How charming are the colours at daybreak put on.

0 Truth, O Divinity, O God, I have nothing else.

1 have no ties and my relation is only with Thee,
l never waver. If I am careless, it is but

leasing, teasing my loved one, for I have to
tease only Thee.

0 home, sweet .home, my bedstead, my
support,” Please fill your souls with the idea
that the Divinity is your bedstead to lie down
upon.

Feel that you lie upon God. . . ,

“Hold on just a moment, I see what I bought,

O see the Almighty I am ; I forgot.”

The thing purchased or bought, that I

am, my Self. That which you purchased is
what you have always been.

“Tfie dazzling glory, my chariot of Sun.

Quintessence of Godhead, restorer of sight.”

OM ! OM !! OM !!’

SOHAM

( Lecture Delivered on J une 10, 1903)

There is a very useful Mantram which
should be familiar to everyone. It is SOHAM.
The meaning of * So ’ in the English language
is ‘such’, but in the Sanskrit language ‘So’
means ‘that’, and ‘that’ always means God
or Divinity. So the word ‘So’ means God.
In India the wife never calls her husband by
name. To her there is only one man in the
world and that is her husband. She always
calls him “ that, ” as if there were no one else
present in the whole universe- Consequently
to her he is always God, and God is always
in her thoughts. Thus to Vedantin the word
‘ So ’ always means God or Divinity. There
is but one reality, my Self. That thought'
should be constantly kept in mind.

Ham in the Persian language means ‘I.’
Drop the ‘H’ and supply the T and we have
So-am-I, That am I, God am I, Divinity am I,

203 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

and God is always speaking through me, for
that is all there is. OM is also contained
here. Drop the S and H, we have OM. So
Ham is the natural sound which comes from
the breath, and all the time we should have
the full significance of the word continually
in our minds. Keep watch over the breath
and make the breath harmonical through this
Mantram SOHAM. It is a mental, physical,
and spiritual exercise. While breathing *

there are two processes involved, going in
and ‘coming out, inspiration and expiration.
When inhaling, ‘So’ is said, and then exhaling,
‘Ham’ is said. Sometimes a beginner finds it
more convenient to chant SOHAM than OM.
It embraces both. When not chanting aloud,
meditate upon it, internally and mentally dwell
upon it, all the time breathing quite naturally.
This is the real kind of auto-suggestion, which
leads one away from the hypnotism of the
senses and brings one back to Godhead.
That am I. There is harmonious motion
going on in the universe all the time. The
word ‘So’ in Sanskrit also means the Sun.
The Sun am I. I am the giver of light, I

SOHAM

209 *

0

receive nothing but give alL I am a giver and
not a receiver. -Supposing we are the recipients
of very unkind letters from others, and of
1 severe criticims of jealous persons. Are - we
to be disturbed and feel sorry and worry about
it ? No. Rest undisturbed in your Godhead.
Think kindly and lovingly of those who ,are
trying to harm you most. They are your own
Self, and to your own Self you can only give
good thoughts. I am the Sun of suns. Light,
Glory, Power am I. Who is there to injure
me ? My Self [ cannot , injure the Self.
Impossible. Rise above the little false opinions
of others. Ler God always speak, think and
act through you. Rest at peace in your
Godhead. I am{the Sun, the giver of light to
the world. “ .

Feel perfect strength. You see all our
difficulties are due to our regard of self, of
our little self as bound by space. This is the
thought which weakens and kills us. In order
to remove this disease, anybody or everybody
is to sit down naturally in a room and there
weep or cry, beat his breast and say, “Out
demon, out,: out demon, out.” Put yourself in

210

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

a state as if this body of yours were never born ;
you .are the Divinity, you are not this. If you
keep yourself confined within time and space,
the designs of other people and other men’s
thoughts molest you. This body that you are
addressing is hallucination. I am God. Do
you mark that ? Believe in reality more than
in false opinions. Divinity you are. Evil
thoughts and temptations have no right to enter
your holy presence. What right have they to
make their appearance in your presence?
Sacred, holy you are. Feel that. Where is
the disease ? Expect nothing, fear nothing,
feel no responsibility. Do not take to your
work as in duty bound. What is duty ? Duty
is your ovyn creation. Take your work as a
noble prince. Everything should be like a
plaything to you. Do the work before you
cheerfully, freely.

Diseases are of two kinds. We call them in
Indian language Adhyatmic (internal) disease
and Adibhautig ( external ) disease. Literally
it means demon-disease and fairy-disease;
giant-disease and woman-ftisease. What is the
meaning of this ? Oh, the fairy-disease or

SOHAM

211

female-disease is the one which rises from
■within us/ Desires within us, our wishes, our
attachments, our yearnings are the fairy-
diseases. And the giant-diseases are positive
•diseases, are. those which befall us through the
actions or influences of others. Well, how to
cure a man. They say, do not bother yourself
about the male-disease, about what is called
the adibhautic disease, demon-disease or outside
disease. Do not bother yourself about this.
The very, moment you cure yourself of your
weakening desires, the very moment you rid
yourself of those, the outside diseases will
immediately leave you. But the people in this
world make a mistake, they do not attend
to their own work. They do not attend to
the part of the difficulty which is created by
their own desires. They begin to fight first
with outside fears, so they begin at the wrong
place, they want to fight with the circumstances
first. They want to remove' the male disease,
■the disease which comes through the influence
■of others. The Vedanta says that your desires
■are your weaknesses' everything else will be
decided for you. Here is the female part in.

212 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

you. This is what attracts the outside
influences. Just as one dog has a piece o£
flesh in his mouth, other dogs come to fight for
it. When you get rid of your weakness
or female-disease, the male-disease will
immediately leave you. The nature of this
female or fairy disease ought to be fkrther
explained. Here is somebody. If he is perfectly
pure, if he can keep himself perfectly above
all temptation and realize "the Godhead within
.him and be ready to say, “ Get behind me;
Satan, I will have none of thee,” to him Rama
makes a statement. To him nobody’s desires
in this world, no one’s thoughts, evils or
temptations of no one in this world will do any
harm. No force can molest him or bring him
down in the least, because, he has got rid of
the demon-disease himself. The very moment
we make ourselves weak, and begin to desire
fleshy enjoyments, what happens*? Evil
thoughts of all foes take the shape of ' this,
temptation or that and devour us. If you
want to enjoy peace and perfect happiness, if
you want to realise your 'Divinity, the lower
nature must die.: In this death is life, in this

SOHAM

213

ft ^

death is life. Now here feel yourself to be God.
Free yourself, and when you have to attend to
that business, attend to it with a cool head,
with a sedate, secure * spirit.

I desire nothing, I have no need, no fear,
no expectation, no responsibility.

This circle A is a pulley, and on this pulley
hangs a very fine silk thread, and to the ends
of this silk thread are fastened two weights,
one is 10 and the other 6. Now to this weight
6 ( the smaller weight ), we add another weight
4. Six plus four makes ten, so we have 10 on
one side and 10 on the other side. Balance.
They will not move at all. W ell, now supposing
we take away the weight 4, and then we have
left 10 on one side and 6 on the other side.
The weights are not balanced. What will the

224

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

consequence be ? The 10 will go down and
the 6 will rise. After a second, we add this
weight 4 to the weight 6. There we make both
the weights equal again on both sides. Then
what will the consequence be ? So many
people state that it will be balanced, but that
is not so, it will go on moving. At first sight
it seems that after one second when the weights
• are balanced, the motion will also be balanced.

When Rama lectured on the subject in the

*

University, all the students had to say that it
would stop, but when the experiment was shown
or explained to them, it gave them light. Even
when the weights were made equal, it went on
running, did not stop. Thus in the beginning
we see that if the weights are made equal, it
will rest, the original rest will be preserved 1 .
} When once motion has been started and we
make the weights on the two sides equal, the
motion will not be arrested. If we allow the
weights 6 and 10 to operate on two sides for
two seconds, and after two seconds we add the
weight four again, that would make the weights
on two sides equal and yet the motion would
not be balanced, would not be attained. So,

SOHAM

215

if after three seconds we make the weights
equal, still the motion will not be stopped. One'
difference we mark at the close of the first
second, the velocity or speed of the weights
must be 4 feet per second. If the unequal
■ weights moved on for one second, the resultant
velocity is 4 feet and if the inequality continues-
for two seconds, the resultant velocity will be
8. If the unequal weights be allowed to operate
for 3 consecutive seconds, the velocity will be
12, and at the end of 4 seconds, it will be 16,.
etc. We see that if the weights are kept
unequal, the consequence is that at the close-
of each second, there is a difference of velocity,.
4 plus the original velocity. So the velocity
that has already been acquired remains the'
same. We see that if the weights were made?
equal in the beginning before the motion was-
started', then the weights being equal there will
be rest. If the weights are equal after the
velocity 4 has been acquired, then the equality
of weight will prevent any further increment
of velocity, and if the weights are made equal
at the end; of the second seeond, then the result,
will be that the acquired velocity will be 8, but

216 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATIQN

there will be no further increment to this
velocity, and after the 3rd second the acquired
velocity is 12, there will be no further increment
to the velocity. The increase in velocity at the
end of the first second is called acceleration.
But wee see here another thing. When the
weights on two sides are made equal, there
remains no force acting up on the bodies. If
there be no force acting upon the bodies, there
cannot be any change produced in a state of
rest or motion. There is no change produced
in rest or motion. . If there is original rest, and
we make the force 10 on one side and 10 on
the other, and if there has been motion in the
weights for one second, and the weights are
made equal, according to this law the original
acquired motion will remain there. It does not
prevent the original rest or the original acquired
velocity, but the equ'ality in the weights will
prevent no further -change in the velocity. So
if ttt the end of the second second we make
the weights equal, the original acquired velocity
will remain there. So at the end of the third
second, the original acquired velocity being 12,
the equality of weights will prevent any further

SOHAM

217

increase of velocity.

So we come now to the case of a man of
realization. Realization is simply the equality
of weights on both sides. Realization is making
the weights equal, taking away the inequality
from within you. It is making you free of
•external circumstances. It is saving you from
being at the mercy of- winds and storms.
Realization frees you from outside influences.
It makes you stand by yourself. This being
done, all further what we call acceleration is
stopped, but the original acquired velocity
remains there. The original acquired velocity
is what we call inertia or Purva Adhyasa.
That remains there. That will have its way.
We see that this realization was achieved by
some people, in which the original acquired
- velocity was very, very small, and through their
bodies great works t were not performed; But
there are other people whose original acquiped
velocity is wonderful, marvellous. They are
free, but their bodies will be in continuous
motion. Their bodies will be doing wonderful
deeds, great and sublime actions. W ork is
.another name for realization.

218

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

“Pleasures wrapped up in duties garments.”
says Dr. Anthony.

Realize your Divinity, and everything is-
done.

OM! OM!! OM !!!

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Lecture delivered on February 26, 1903

Ques . — What is it that says, “I am not
this body, I am the Atman, I am the Self ?”

Ans . — In the Real Atman there are no
words. From the stand-point 'of the Real
Self there is no possibility of making a state-
ment of this kind “ I am Brahma, I am this-
or I am that;” no words can reach the true
Atman, the Atman stands above all words.
Thus the statement “I am Brahma, I am
the Atman, I am Divinity” cannot be made
by the Atman, because the Atman transcends-
all words. This statement is made by the
intellect (Sukshma Sharira) or any other name
you may give it. The question is if the mind
makes the statement “I am Brahma, - I am
Divinity.” the mind and intellect are not

220 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION '

Brahma ■ and therefore are not justified in
making the statement. Vedanta says, from
one point of view, mind and intellect are not
Brahma ; but on the other hand, the mind and
intellect are nothing else but Brahma, even
the body is nothing else but Brahma, and
everything in the world is nothing else, but
Brahma. Just as when we say that the black
snake is’ a rope, the attribute ‘rope’ does not
belong to the snake in the same way as the
attribute ‘black’ belongs to the snake. The
snake is black. Here the attribute ‘black’
belongs i to the snake, but when the statement
is made that the snake is a rope, the rope is
not 1 an attribute of the snake. Similarly,*
when we say that the mind, body or intellect
is Brahma or Atman, then Brahma or Atman
is not an attribute of the mind, intellect,
or body. The one meaning is that the mind„

, the intellect, or the body denies its
apparent self, and finds Divinity or God. So
when we say “I am God* I am Divinity,” it
does not mean that God is an' attribute of
mine, as when we say “I am king,” for king
is an attribute, , but God/ is no attribute 1 of

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

221

mine. This statement “I aim God” is not such
a statement as “The , snake is black.” If
the statement “I am God” were a statement ,
which made God your attribute, then it wouldi
have been an irreligious statement, but as it
is the statement “I . am God” means that the
apparent self is to be realized as an illusion
only, and the true Divinity is to be manifest-
ed in its full growth. 0 ! Divinity I am.

O people of the World, if you call me-
Swami or Rama, if you call me this or that,,
you are mistaken. Divinity I am ; this body
I am not.

A man was asleep; and in his sleep * he-
found himself detected as a thief ; he found,,
himself a beggar ; He was in a wretched condi-
tion. He prayed in his dream to all sorts of
gods to help him, he went to this, and that
court, he went to this and that lawyer, he-
went to all his friends and sought their
help, but there was no help. He was put
jin jail and he cried bitterly, for there was.
no help for him. There came a snake which
bit him and he felt excruciating pain,
and this pain was so great that it woke him*

4

■222 IN WOODS OF GOD-KEALIZATION

up. 'He ought to have thanked the snake
which bit him in his sleep. Whenever we
dream sad and horrible things, whenever we
vhave the nightmare, we are awakened. So the
■snake in the dream woke him up, and he
found himself sitting in bed all right, he found
himself surrounded by his family, and he was
:happy. Now, we say in the dream he was
bound, and he sought release and in the dream
the snake came and bit him and this snake
was the same as the other objects in the
•dream with this difference that this snake
woke him up, it startled him. It ate him up.

f \

'We do not mean that the snake ate the man
hut that it ate the dreaming ego of the man ;
* the dreaming ego of the man was as the other
objects in the dream, and this snake not only
destroyed the dreaming ego of the man but
it destroyed all the other objects in the dream
viz . — the jail,, the jailor, the turnkey, the
Soldiers and all the rest But this serpent
was a strange serpent^ it did something very
•extraordinary, it ate up itself, because when
the man woke up, he no longer saw this
.strange snake. ... .

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 223

According to Vedanta, all this world that
you see is but a mere dream, is Maya, and what
about yourself who sees the dream. You are
the dreaming ego, the dreaming culprit, or the
thief etc., and all your friends and other people
are the companions in'' prison, from whom you
seek help and invoke aid, you invoke aid from
all gods in heaven and hell and they cannot
release you. You “go to your friend to seek
aid but there is no peace, no true aid ; no true
or real joy comes to you until the time comes
when you find yourself bitten by a snake.
Now what snake is that ? The snake of Re-
nunciation. Renunciation appears to Be
serpentlike and it bites you. The word Re-
nunciation seems awful to you, it stings you
as it were. True Renunciation means Know-
ledge, it means Vedanta. ^

When this true Renunciation comes, what
we call Jnana follows. The great saying “X
am Brahma, I am Divinity, I am the Lord of
lords” is realized. Here this statement “I
am Brahma, Atman” seems to be a hissing
statement to the ears of the Americans and
Europeans, it is the hissing snake that will

224 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

bite you, and you say, “0 well, how can I
entertain such a preposterous idea, how dare
I make such a preposterous statement ?”

O people, let the snake bite you ; its.
stings and bites are welcome ; they will release
you, they will, free you of all anxiety and
trouble. This Truth does not instil into you
venom but it instils nectar into your being,
and you wake up and the dfeaming ego is gone
and the world is gone also.

This is no speculation of which Rama is
talking but a truth' or fact which you can
verify from your own experience. All pain,
trouble, anguish are immediately gone.

The statement “I am not the body” is
made by the thief in the dream, because you
have stolen God, you have stolen the Truth,
you have concealed your real Self, so you are a
thief in the dream, and this thief in the dream
is stung by the serpent Truth, “I am the
Atman.” J'hus it is the thief in the dream that
receives the life-giving sting of “I am Atman”
and the result is that you wake up, and
the true Atman shines in- its full glory, and
this Atman is unapproachable. It surpasses

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

225

S ail description. Language cannot reach it.

Ques . — If Death is like the sleep of the
living, does it mean that we do not know what
is going on in the sphere of death at that time ?

Ans . — When you enjoy the sleep of death,
you live in a world of your own creation. In
the wakeful state you live in a world of your
f own creation ; you live in the small, petty

\ world around you- So in the sleep of death you
live in a world of your own creation; thus the
J sleep of death bears the same relation to the

1 world of the wakeful state as the dream world

%

| bears to the wakeful state.

I Ques . — What is it that sleeps since the

| spirit does not require rest ?

; Ans . — The Atman, the real God never sleeps.

.1 Sleep cannot touch the true Self. This sleep-

ing state as well as the wakeful state, is accord-
ing to Vedanta, nothing else but Maya, illu-
sion. Sleep comes only to the mind or the false
ego. Sleep attaches itself only to the unreal,

. the seeming self, the subtle body. Sleep is an
y aspect of your false ego, Mayaj dream, illusion.

IJv’ - ,

>! ^ Ques . — Do medium gets communications

1 k from departed spirits ?

tf

r.y

226

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Ans .— ^Rama says that even in the wake-
ful state all communications which you
receive are received from within yourself. In
your wakeful state all the objects which
appear without you are within you. In the
hypnotic, mesmeric, or mediumistic state also
everything comes from within you. Vedanta
Uys all stress as to the phenomena of the
Universe upon the fact of your true reality,
lays all stress upon the fact that the Sun, the
moon, the stars, all the solid-seeming world is
but your own creation. Millions of those spirits
are within you. Nothing is without you,
nothing is outside of y,ou.

There is a beautiful poem in the Persian
language, written by one of thg greatest poets
of the world, Hafiz by name, a poet whom
Emerson has translated to some degree.
Translated it means, — “0 mind, throw aside all
this distrust, all this debating. Come, bring
me the cup full of ruby wine that gives me
the key to unlock the doors of Heaven.” It
does not mean that you ought to become a
disciple of Bacchus, it means let us have that
wine, that Nectar of Divinity, let us have

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

227

something which will create Divine madness.
Let us have that sting of the serpent which
wakes up the wretched thief in the dream,
this way the doors of Heaven are unlocked.
So Rama says, please throw aside these desires
and questions for a' while and enjoy with
Rama the Divine madness. Rama must speak,
he must unbosom himself. Rama can no
longer keep himself regardful of your
thoughts and desires, he cannot any longer
pamper to your tastes.

O people of America and of the whole
world, the truth is that you cannot serve God
and Mammon, you cannot serve two masters,
you cannot enjoy the world and also realize
Truth.

Thus in order to get the whole Truth,
you must get rid of worldly desires ; you must
rise above worldly attachments and hatred ;
you must bid farewell to all the ties and bonds,
enslaving and clinging; you must rise above
all this. This is the price, and 'unless you
pay the price you cannot realize the Truth.
If you are not prepared to pay the price, rest
content with the hard lot which you must

228 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

bear. If you want Realization, if you want
God-consciousness, come up please, pay the
price, and then you will have everything.
Christ spoke these words unflinchingly. O
people, how much are these words distorted
to-day, how they are twisted to give us a
meaning that might scratch the toe of an
audience and how it is tortured. It reminds
Rama of a story. There was a man in India,
famous, full of truth, mad with Divinity. He
walked through the streets crying at the top
of his voice, “O customers of Divinity, come.”
He used to go about selling Divinity. “O cus-
tomers of Divinity, 0 all desirous of Godcons-
ciousness, come ; O ye that are heavy laden,
come.” He cried in the language of his
country, and in that language Nam is the
name given for God. He cried in his own
language, nam lelo, which literally means “I
have an article to sell. Purchase it, 0 people,
and that article is God” and he used the word
Nam. Now Nam has two meanings; one
meaning is God, and the other meaning of
Nam is beautiful, bedecked, jewelled necklace,
but that saint used the word Nam to mean

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 229

■God and not jewellery. One day while passing
the streets selling Nam and God, a gentleman
who wanted to purchase a fine necklace heard
him crying through the streets and he thought
that this fellow must be an agent for some
banker and wants to sell that necklace. When
people in India are going to be married, very
often they want very precious jewels for adortt-
ing themselves or their brides. The man
asked where this hawker or sage lived and he
went to his house and was amazed. The house
of the hawker was very poor and he wondered
how the house of a Nam-seller could be so
poor. He entered the house and did not find
the hawker, he knocked at the door and there
came out a dear little child and he asked for
the master of the house, and the child replied : —
‘‘My father is away, he will be here in the
evening; but sir, would you mind telling me
what business you have with him ?” He was
Very much impressed with the talk of the child
and wanted to talk with her, so in order to
exchange some words with her, he said that he
wanted to purchase Nam. The child smiled
and said, “I can give you Nam, it is so easy.”

230 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

He said, “All right, I will wait/’ He waited at
the door and she went in. He waited and
waited but the child did not make her appear-
ance and he was about to lose his patience,
as he had waited twenty minutes and he
thought that time long enough to dig out the
treasure from under the ground. Losing
patience he peeped into the house and there
he found the child was whetting her large
knife, and he said, “What does that mean ? ”
and he spoke to the child and said, “Child,
why are you playing childish pranks ? This
is no time to trifle with a gentleman of my
rank; do not fool with me please; this is no
time to try your idle experiments ; come out
and say that you do not know where your pa-
rents have buried the jewellery”; but the child
exclaimed, “Please excuse me ; have patience
and wait a minute. I am coming”; and he
said, “Come right away, why sharpen that
knife ?” She said, “Do you not want to
receive Nam ?” He said, “I want Nam ; but
please show it to me that I may take it to
some banker or to those who can set the right
value on the article,” and then she said, “Our

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 23 \ '

Nam is not an article which requires a valua-
tion to be set upon it by the banker or jewel-
ler of the streets. Our precious Nam has?
already got its value fixed; there is no going
up or coming down. The value is already
fixed and the price already determined.” He
said, “Is it so ? Then please come, show it
to me, throw aside your , knife.” She said,’
“0, but you must pay the price first and-
you get Nam afterwards.” He said, “Do you-
intend to stab me, why do you sharpen your
knife?” She said in the most trustful, pure
way, “If you did not know the price of Nam,
why did you come here ? Do you not know
that in order to get Nam, you must lose your
life ? Life is the price you must pay for Nam.
He who will save his life must lose Nam.”

In the Arabic language there is a verse?
which means — “Die before you are put in the
grave, and by so doing make this world a
heaven.’’ In Sanskrit many verses are
written which describe the same fact. ' t

When your whole being is turned away
from the world, when you have suffered, when
you have been crucified and have died to

232

IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

the world, then do you live . But be not
deceived by the flattering remarks of
preachers and teachers. Rama tells you the
truth, he does not flatter. There is a beauti-
ful, Sanskrit verse in the Vedas, which
means : —

Man’s body is like • a citadel and the
senses are the loopholes. At the loop holes of»
the citadel we place cannon and guns, which
are shot off from within, and which shoot
outside. Similarly, from you, cannon balls
of sight are shot out into the hearts and
heads of spectators; from the loopholes of
the ears thoughts shoot out. Well, it says,

, the maker or creator of this citadel, the
Atman, has played a funny joke with man.
All the cannon balls shoot outside from
within you, and man is bewildered. Man
thinks that he is gaining and conquering this
world ; man thinks that he is extending his
property, but as a matter of fact he is losing
his own Self. In this citadel man thinks
that he is gaining knowledge, that he is
victorious in the .world, but as a matter of
fact he is starving his true Atman. There

i) ■ ■ . ' ■ ■ ■/ v ■

1

'f QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 233

R ••

v the verse says, “He conquers all the world,

; ? who can turn the mouths of his cannon and

: J guns and shoot within ; whose eyes instead

'*■ , of looking outside look inside or within, and

see the source of sight; whose ears can turn
back and hear the true source of hearing,

f the Atman, the origin and power of hearing ;

whose mind can look into and see the source
•of its activity, energy and power.

Look within ! What is it that makes /the
eyes see, the ears hear, the hair grow? It

is the Atman, God. How simple is that ! If

you care to give this Truth a moment’s

thought, you may see that you are nothing
else but God. Feel that Divinity within,
and be the Master, the Director, the Emperor
-of the Universe ; but this life grows old
g .and then comes death; the seed must be
g prepared in order that it may grow. The

p lamp must burn in order that it may shine.

/So in order to live as God, the little, ego,
-the false self, the outgoing tendency must
•stop. Will this lead us astray from the
story ? The girl said, “Sir, did you not
know that the price is already fixed ? In order

i ‘

‘;i 1 , '

gv, I ,

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# , '
i . ■ , ' ' ■ .

234 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

to get Nam (Nam meant God to the girl, and;
it meant the necklace to the man) this head
of yours must be cut off with this knife ; then-
and then alone you can get Nam.” Boldly,,
cheerfully, and unflinchingly the girl made-
this statement. The poor customer was

stricken aghast ; he cried aloud and made
such a noise that all the neighbours collected.
He began to complain. “Look here,”

he said, “this poor hut contains butchers-
and homicides. I presume that the parents
of this girl are the worst homicides. This
matter ought to be placed before the court
Jet us call the police.” But the people
said, “Don’t talk that way, the parents-
of this girl are noted for their great piety
etc.,” and he said, “I come to . see that all
those very pious people are usually very
bad ; they are not religious ; under the
cloak of religion they perpetrate religious-
crimes.” There was a great noise and con-
fusion in their talk and all of a sudden the
father of the girl appeared on the scene and.
this man was about to strangle the , father of.
the girl. The pious father was tranquil and

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 235

serene, when the queer customer addressed
him in very harsh language and said, “Why
do ,7 ou teach even your child to] perpetrate
sucn%* .heinous crimes, why do you do such
deeds every day as to make your children
homicides in their very infancy ?” The
sage replied, “How is it, sir, what do you
mean ?” The whole matter was explained
and when the sage heard the story, his heart
was filled with emotion ; his whole being was
thrilling with holy thoughts ; his soul was
saturated with Divinity ; tears like great
beads appeared on his cheeks and he said,
“O prophets and saints, O angels, God ! have
matters come to this? Have matters come
to such a low pass, is the name of God to be
brought down to the power of a child like that,
was this to be changed to a small thing like
that? Pointing to his daughter he said that
it is because the Divinity, God has been
taken up by an innocent, ignorant child, that
the name of God, the Divinity has become
so ridiculously cheap, that the name of God,
Heaven, and Immortality is sold at such an
awfully low price as the head or heart. O

236 IN WOODS OF GOD-REAL IZflTION

Divinity, 0 sweet Immortality ! Is it dear
if it were sold for one life? Let millions
upon millions of lives be created and destroyed
for the sake of one glimpse of that Reality.
Let infinite lives and heads be chopped off
and cut to pieces for a moment of that Holy
God-consciousness.

When these words were uttered by the
saint, the heart of the queer customer melted
and all the by-standers stood aghast. It was
then that they came to know that the same
word Nam meant something exquisitely sweet
for the little girl and for the parents of the
girl, and that their own minds were so
grovelling in materiality as not to grasp the
true meaning.

This story tells you the price you must
pay in order to taste the sweet nectar of
Heaven. It tells you the inevitable value set
on realization.

You cannot enjoy the world, you cannot
enter into sordid, petty, low, wordly, carnal,
sensuous desires and at the same time lay
claim to Divine Realization.

Here is the jewellery shop, and for this

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 237

jewel, this goal, this heaven, you will have to
pay at the cost of your head and your lower
nature. If you cannot pay the price, go away.
If you cannot enjoy that perfect conscious-
ness the sole reason is that you do not pay
the price ; so pay the price and that moment
you realize that bliss.

A man fell down and hurt his legs and he-
hegan to find fault with Gravity and cried,,
“0 wretched law of Gravity you made me-
fall.” Well, it is better for millions of men to
fall and break their legs than for the Law of
Gravity to be eliminated. Fight not with
Gravity ; take your steps cautiously and you.
will have no falls. All your falls, all your
injuries, all your hurts, all your anxieties and.
troubles are due to some weakness within
you. Remove that and fight not with circums-
tances, do not blame your fellowmen, throw
not the blame on the shoulders of others,,
but remove your own weakness. Bear in mind
that whenever you fall or suffer or are trou-
bled, it is due to some weakness within you.
Remember this and fight not with Gravity.

What is this weakness within? It is the*

238 IN WOODS OF GQD-REALIZATION

dark pitch of Ignorance which makes you
look upon the body, the senses, as you. Get
rid of it, discard it, and then Power itself you
become. When is it that you feel your liver
or your spleen? You feel your liver or your
spleen when it is out of order. When do you
feel your lungs ? You feel your lungs when
they# are out of order. When the nose is
all right, you do not feel it.

Similarly, when you feel the body, it shows
that there is some disease there. When in
perfect health, you feel bold and strong, you
feel not the body or the personality ; you
will be above this mockery, this false self ;
you will be above the superstition of this
•little body. To you the whole world will be
•your body ; and the moment you are in that
•state. Bliss is for you, and you will never feel
any desire for this or that. This weakness
in you makes you stumble time and again,
this weakness, this ignorance makes you feel
your body.

There was this question • put to a sage,
“How is it that when Christ was crucified, he
*did not feel the cross ?.” At that time the

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 239

•sage had some cocoanuts around him. In
East India, people visiting .friends or sages
always bring fruit and these cocoanuts had
been brought to the sage. One of the cocoa-
nuts was raw and the other was dried up.
The sage said, “This cocoanut is raw. Now
if I break the shell, what will happen to the
kernel ?” They said, “The kernel will be
■cut or broken also, it will be injured.”
“Well,” said the sage, “Here is the dried
cocoanut, and if I break this shell, what will
happen to the kernel ? 5> They said, “If the
shell of this cocoanut be broken, the kernel
will not be injured, it will be unharmed.”
He said, “Why ?” They said, “In the dried
cocoanut, the kernel separates itself from the
shell, and in the raw cocoanut the kernel
attaches itself to the shell.” Then the sage
said, “When Christ was crucified what was
crucified ?” They said, “The body.” “Well,”
said the sage, “Here was a man whose body
or outer shell was injured or crucified;
here was a man who had separated the
immutable Self, the true kernel, from the outer
shell; the outside shell was broken but the

240 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

inside was intact ; so why feel sorry, why
weep or cry over it? In the case of other
men, as in the raw cocoanut the kernal
attaches itself to the shell and so when the
shell or body is disturbed, the kernel or inside
is disturbed or injured also, and that is the
difference ”

The weakness or disease in you is this
attachment to the shell ; this clinging, this
slavery to the shell. Thus giving up this cling-
ing, this bondage to the shell is death from the
stand-point of worldly men. From the stand-
point of your present vision, that is death, and
unless you suffer this death and detach
yourself from this shell and the concerns of
th,e shell, you cannot conquer death, you
cannot rise above anguish, misery, disease, or
pain. Let the body become as if it never
existed. A man of liberation, a free man, is
one who lives in Divinity, in Godhead, in
such a way that the body was never born.

Rama has many times heard the expres-
sion “I wish I was never born. 3 ’ Dean Swift
used to read this passage^from Job. “Let
the day perish in which I was born.” Rama

241

QUESTIONS AND

ANSWERS

says, “Brother, this is not the way to make
the day in which you were born perish. Let
the body, the desires perish, and live in God-
consciousness to such a degree that for you
there is no day on which you were born, as
if there was never any body, as if the body
had never been born. Just as when you enter
the deep sleep state, all the experiences of
the wakeful state disappear; they are forgot-
ten ; so rise to the God-consciousness to such
a degree that for you your past relations may
become a complete blank. This is the way
you have to make the kernel detach itself
from the shell, then you conquer death.

Realization means setting to this new
tune all your old songs. The old songs will
remain the same, but you must set all of
them to an entirely new tune. You must
look at the world from an entirely new stand-
point. You cannot mix the two stand-points.
It cannot be that you can look at certain
phenomena from a worldly stand-point and
regard other circumstances or phenomena
from the new f stand-point. Let your stand-
point be entirely changed, 1 ook at everything

!

242 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

as God, as Divinity, Your relation to the
world should become the relation of God to
the world ; an entire change. This will be
illustrated by some stories.

At one time there came a man to a meet-
ing where we all had God-consciousness, and
on entering he began to cry and weep and
beat his breast ; no body attended to him.
He was grieving over the death of Rama’s
son, and this boy was related to this man;
Weill, no body attended to him, and he sat
down, and then he was asked quietly, calmly,
plainly, to hush his anxiety, and to console
himself; and he said he could not bear thd
death of this relation of his (the son of Rama).
None of the audience could weep or cry or
show any signs of disturbance, for there was
the state of God- consciousness ; there was that’
state where everything in the world was
looked at from the stand-point of God ; there
was that condition where the old songs were
set to the new music of Divinity.* The words
or remarks which escaped the lips at that
time were as follows — “0 brother, the fact that
you are a relative, is of the same: sort as

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 243

somebody coming and saying “O sir ! the wind
is blowing ; but, O fellow, what if the wind

does blow, what is unnatural about it to

upset us ? or O sir, the river is flowing ;

what if the river flows, it is natural, why-
should it upset us ; the river flows, that is
natural ; there is nothing abnormal or extra-
ordinary about these statements. Similarly,
when you come and say that your son is

dead, there is nothing extraordinary about it,
it is most natural ; every one who is born is
born to die. When you enter the University,
-do you enter to stay but a short time or to
make it your home all the time; do you get
examined and remain there all your life as a
freshman or sophomore ? When^ you enter the
freshman class, it is intended that you should
leave that ' class one day and go on to the
sophomore class etc.

When you enter a staircase, it is under^
stood that you are not to remain there always,
but will leave the staircase after a short time.

When you reincarnate, is it not under-
stood that you must leave that |reincarnation
or past life ?

244 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Similarly when you enter this body, it is
understood that you will leave this body.
So if that boy whom you call Rama’s boy is
dead, it is quite natural, there is nothing
remarkable or curious about it. It is not
strange, it should not upset you, it is like
saying that you had your nails pared today.
If the son is dead, all right, there is nothing
Unnatural about it.

This is the way to look at your worldly
,! relations and thus keep yourself free ; look
from the stand-point of Reality, making
Rama the true Self, Divinity, your home,
and look at all your acquaintances, connec-
tions and relations from that vantage ground.
Just as from . the Lick Observatory people
make observations of worldly phenomena, so
from the Lick Observatory of your Atman,
through the telescope of Divine Wisdom look
at this world and you will see 'the Divinity
you are, the God of gods, the Light of lights,
the Truth. The same am I. Not the body,
pot the mind, not this little, false, craving
ego, but Divinity I am. Feel, 0 feel" that !!
Realize it. Realize that you are God. This

245

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

is the one thing needful. What care. I or
what care you or what cares anybody if this
body is in a dingy hut. Keep this God-
consciousness, and wherever you are that
place is converted into heaven. What need
you care if this body of yours is tortured ;
let God- consciousness be with you and all the
treasures of the world are yours, all the
treasures of the Universe are yours. Have
only this and throw away everything else.

Once there came a man and said to
Rama, ‘‘O sir, a great prince is coming to pay
his respects to you.”. Now here is an impor-
tant point. Rama is about to talk on a critical
point, where people usually feel these flatter-
ing, puffing remarks of friends. Well, the
man said, “Here is a very wealthy man com-
ing to pay his respects to you.” There was
Rama looking at everything ffrom the stand-
point of Divinity, and these words escaped the
lips of Rama “What is that to Rama ?” The
man said, “O sir, he is going to purchase
such magnificient, beautiful costly things to >
bring to you.” Rama said, W hat is that to i <>
-me ?” “What is a prince to me? Let me have

246 IN WOODS OF GOD-REALIZATION

Reality only. Trifles and frivolities, these
unreal phenomena, have no interest for me ;
my Truth, my Divinity, my Joy, my Atman
is enough to keep me busy. These vain talks,
these frivolous, worldly things do not concern
me. This prince or these wealthy people
come to the body of Rama, and if Rama
become interested in these bodies, he would
become a veritable interrogation point ; but
when the point of view is changed and when
the old songs have been set to new music,
when the observation is taken from the
highest stand-point, then what interest can a
Lord or Mayor, or an kmperor excite in me ?
None whatever.” So let the stand-point be
changed. When news-papers have no attrac*
tion for you, . when they cease to interest
you, then that day you have risen above the
body, and have come nearer to God. This
gives you one way of applying this Truth in
your practice. When that crucifixion is
attained, then the True Life in you will
manifest itself in ways like that.

These stories are told not that you may
simply imitate them. No. no. Feel the

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERES 247

Divinity within you, feel God that you are. Feel
that and rise above all temptations, fear and
anxiety.

Om ! Om !! Om !!!

WANTED

Reformers,

Not of others
But of themselves,
Who have won —

Not University distinctions,
But victory over the local self,
Age : the youth of Divine Joy,
Salary : (godhead.

Apply Sharp,

With no begging solicitations,

But commanding decision,

To the Director of the Universe,
Your Own Self.

\ OM! OM!! OM !!!